auto 28djteeti Litton

*0 apology can be needed for introducing to the public a work like the present. There has long been a want of a book which should, in a moderate compass,give a clear and readableaccount of theselegends j for Dictionaries of Mythology do not give a view of the subject as a whole; and the price of most other works on the Greek and Eoman myths would prevent their being used as class-books. These considerationshave led the publishers to bring out this book in an English dress. If any should be inclined to ask what Mythology has to do with men of the present day, the reply is plain. The works of art in our galleries and museums require a certain amount of knowledge of the mythology of the Greeks and Romans for the full appreciation of their subjects. There is hardly any litera-

ture in Europewhich has not beenmore or less colouredby

these legends; and in our own "day their power to inspire the poet has by no means ceased. Nay, they have incorporated

themselves into our very language:" Herculean strength" is

Preface.

almost as commonan expressionnow as it was two thousandyears ago; and we still talk of " chimerical" expectations, describe aman as

" tantalised," and use the Sphinx as the symbol of the

mysterious. The presentwork, translated from the German of 0. Seemann, seemswell adapted to convey a knowledge of these myths. and modern art.case are mentioned. The distinction between Greek and Eoman deities and heroes

It

is illustrated with cuts after some of the masterpieces ancient of Particular attention has been paid to this branch of the subject, and the principal works of art in each

lus oeen preserved, but the conventional spelling has been retained. A full index is appended,in which tho quantities of the vowels are carefully marked.

| YTHSmay described poetic "be as narratives thebirth, of

demigods. Both myth and legend* are distinguished

amereproductof the imagination,but alwaysbeingfoundedon someprecedingreality, whetherthat be an oft-recurringphase

of nature, or a distinct and real occurrence. It is often most

difficult to recognise with any precision true germof a myth, the on account the numerousadditions and alterations of madeby the poets. And therefore the question, whether a particulartradition be a myth or not, is very hard to answer: on one side we are tempted to view, in the god or demigod, the hero of a tribe magnified to superhuman proportions Dy the admiration of* The Germanword " sage" (legend) is really only a translation of the Greekword " mythos," and is often used in that sense. But lately the custom has tacitly sprung up of employing the term "mythos" when

speaking the life or actionsof the gods,and "sage" whenspeaking of of

those of heroes.

12

Cheekand Roman Mythology.*

posterity; and, on the other side, comparison of the legends of different families of nations points ns to the "operationsof nature, not only in the demigod or the hero, hut in the animals of fahle and the traditions of the nursery. A large proportion of thesemyths aredue to men's ohservations of Mature, and her various active and creative forces, which appeared to their lively Southern fancy as manifestations of single supernatural"beings. Thesewere regarded,now as friendly, now as hostile, to man; and men therefore strove as eagerly to gain their favour as to appeasetheir wrath. Of the appearance of the deities who thus manifested themselvesin the workings of nature, men necessarily formed at first very crude and fantastic ideas. But later, when men emerged from the simple conditions of the early patriarchal epoch, and began to dwell in

regularpolitical communities, they gradually ceased regard to the godsasmerepersonifications natural forces. They began ofto regard them as beings acting in accordance with unchangeable moral laws, and endowed with forms similar to those of men

(Anthropomorphism).They brought the godsinto connection

with each other by means of genealogies in a great measure artificial, and built up a vast political system, which has its centre in Zeus, the " father of gods and men." Strange to say, however, it was only among the Greeks that this system of developement prevailed. The nations of Italy still continued to regard their gods as mere natural forces-that looked down on them in a cold, strangefashion-of whose form and mode of life they had no clear idea. It was only later,when the Eomans came into intellectual contact with their Greek

neighbours, beganto study their language and and literature,

that they adopted the popular Greek conceptionsconcerningthe

gods. Theynow transferred existingmyths,and fathered them

on those of their own gods and goddesses who bore the closest resemblance the Greek divinities, and harmonised best with to

fdeas concerningthe Gods.

13

their natural interpretation. Thus it was that the Eoman

Jupiterwasidentified with the GreekZeus, Junowith Hera,

Minerva with Athene; though for peculiar deities, such as Janus* they couldfind no Greekprototype.IL-POPULAR IDEAS CONCERNING THE GODS.

We learn most concerning the conceptionsthe ancients formed

of their godsfrom the numerous Greekand Romanpoetswhose

works have come down to us, and who contributed so largely to the construction of the myths. First, both in antiquity and

importance, the poemsattributed to Homer,in which we are find the whole political system of 0]ympus,with Zeus at itshead, already constructed. Henceforth the gods, in outward appearance at least, are endowedwith forms entirely human; more grand and beautiful and majestic, but still-not verging on the monstrous or fantastic. Not only in beauty and grandeur, but also in strength and vigour, do the gods surpass men. Let but Zeus shake his ambrosiallocks, and the whole of Olympus trembles. The other

deitiesare also endowed in proportion with great strength.

As corporeal, indeed, they are limited in regard to space, and cannot therefore be omnipresent-, but this restriction affectsthem far less than mortals, for they can compassthe greatest distances

at lightning speed. In a moment Athene drops from the

heights of Olympus down to Ithaca; and Poseidon, the ocean-

god,passes three or four stepsfrom Samothrace -ZEgae in to in Eubrea. Moreover, godscanseeand hear at a much greater thedistancethan men. In regard to hearing, indeed, they seem to

have unlimited powers. Prayers ascendto them from every

place, irrespective of their personal presence. In the same manner Zeus, from his high throne in Olympus, sees all that passes among men, and, sitting on the highest summit of Mount

14

Greek and Roman Mythology.^

Ida, lie can follow all the events of the battle that ragesbefore Troy. On the other hand, the gods are subject to the samebodily wants as men. They refresh themselves in the same way with sleep, and have to support themselves with food and drink. Here again, however, they are far less fettered than mortals, for they can hold out much longer without satisfying these wants. Nor is their food so coarse as that of men; they live on ambrosiaand nectar. Another natural necessityis clothing, on the tasteful ordering of which the goddesseseven bestow extraordinary care, and in this, as in many other respects, greatly resemblethe daughters of Eve. Although later art delights in representingsome of the deities either slightly clothed or quite naked, yet we cannot justly conclude from this that the popular belief of the ancients conceivedthus of those gods.Gods endowed with frames like those of mortals must neces-

sarily be born in the sameway, and develope gradually both in mind and body. But here, again, everything proceeds with the utmost rapidity. For instance, the new-born Hermes rises from his cradle to steal the cattle of Apollo, and, coming into the world in the morning, he is found in the afternoon playing on the lyre, which he has himself invented. The most important point, however, in which they surpass mortals is that, when once in full possession bodily and intellectual powers, they of never grow old, but remain ever young and beautiful, ever free from diseaseand death. Compared with the race of men, who are subject to need and pain, they are the "happy," "blessed" gods, the gods " who live at ease," who can readily gratify every desire. But this doesnot by any meansprevent their suffering occasionally from the pangs of sorrow and grief; they are vulnerable alike in body and soul, and exposedto every kind of

painful sensation. So completely the Greekssubject their did

gods to human passions.

Pqpular fdeas concerning the Gods.

15

As regards mentalqualifications they are naturallyfar superioi

to men. In the first place, they stand higher morally; they shun all that is evil, impure, and unjust, and visit with punishment *the impiety and injustice of man. This, again, does not

prevent their giving wayto every description viceand folly, of

such as deceit, lying, hatred, cruelty, jealousy, &c. They are far from holy, therefore, in the sense in which we speak of

the Supreme Being. Still lessare they conceived omniscient as or omnipotent. Their powersindeedare great,and so is theirknowledge. They are able to interrupt the course of nature-to sendsudden storms, pestilences,and other evils-to endow themselvesor others with any forms they like, and to do many other things, of which we read in fairy tales. But even Zeus, to whom a far greater measureof power is accorded than to other gods,and on whosewill the government of the universe depends, is himself subjected to the immutable decreesof fate; whilst the possibility of deceiving and duping Mm is by no meansexcluded.

Where then are we to seek for the explanation of these ap-

parentinconsistencies We have alreadysaid that the active 1

and creative forces of Nature were personified by the imagination of men. Let us take one of the first conceptions likely to spring up-that of the love of the heaven for the earth, fromwhich all nature is born. Different names will be used in

different localities; men will at last forget that they all once meant the same,and out of the simple personification will spring a series of divine marriages; or if one be recognised by the whole nation as the wife, the other brides will sink intomistresses.

So with the everlasting war of the sun with the clouds; we shall not only find several gods of the light in Greece, but almost every tribe had a particular hero, whose great deedswe shall generally find to be those of the sun. Yet in the midst of

16

Greek and Roman

all this confusion, men had a feeling that there was something above them better and holier than they, io which that which is good and holy alone was pleasing. This idea was more and more attached to Zeus himself, as the notion grew thatf Zeus was the supremegod, the king of heaven.

PAET

I-COSMOGONY

AND

THEOGONY.

BY Cosmogony, the thoserelating understand relatingtothe legends to the creationof thewe by Theogony, world;origin of the gods. On both points we have to dealwith, the Greeks alone, since E-omans the neverindulgedin any researchesof this kind. All that their poets have to say on the subject is, without exception, borrowed from the Greeks. According to the common account the world was formed out

of Chaos. By this, however,we must not understand huge a

and shapelessmass, but merely dark, unbounded space. The accounts of the poets vary very materially as to how the world

proceeded Chaos. The mostpopularview is that according from to which Gsea Ge(the earth) first issuedfrom Chaos;whereor upon Tartarus (the abyss beneath the earth) immediatelysevered itself, and Eros (the love that forms and binds all

things) sprang into existence. Gseathen begot of herseJf Uranus(heaven), mountains,and Pontus (the sea). theThe first gods who peopled this new world were begotten of the earth partly by Uranus and partly by Pontus. .From her iinion with Uranus sprang the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Centimanes; from her union with Pontus various sea-deities. L The race of Uranus. According to Hesiod there were twelve

Titans: six males-Oceanus,Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, lapetus,

and Cr^" is; and six females-Tina, Ehea, Themis, Mnemosyne,

Phoebe,jid Tethys. The interpretation of these divinities is

18

Greek Roman and Mythology.*

somewhatdifficult, hut they doubtless represented elementary the forces of nature. The Cyclopeswere three in number-Brontes

(thunder), Steropes(lightning), and Arges (sheet-lightning):

these, we can clearly see,refer to the phenomena of the storm.

The Centimanes (hundred-handed), again, threein numberare

2. The race of Pontus. By Pontus Gsea becamethe mother of the fabulous sea-deities-Xereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. These,again, had numerous descendants. ~N"ereus represents the sea in its quiet state : we shall have to speakof him and his daughterslater on. Thaumas representsto us the

majestyof the sea. He is the father of Iris (the rainbow),and

of the Harpies (storm-winds). Lastly, Phorcys and Ceto, from whose union the frightful Gorgons and Grasse proceeded,typify all the dangersand terrors of the sea. Many marriagesalso took place among the Titans themselves. The numerous sea-nymphsare descendedfrom Oceanus and Tethys; from Hyperion and Thia comethe deities of the light-

Helios(sun),Selene (moon),and Eos (dawn); from Coeus and

Phoebethe deities of the night-Leto (dark night) and Asteria

(starrynight).The most important of all the Titans, however, are Cronusand Ehea,who pavethe wayfor the universal dominion of their son Zeus.

Uranus,fearinglest hiB-Tast-bornqns,>iL'e powerful Cyclopes

and Centimanes,might one day seize his power, ..buried them directly after birtfc in the deep abyss beneath the earth. This

displeased their mother, thereupon Gsea^ who prompted the

Titans to conspireagainst their father, and induced Cronus, the

youngest bravestof them,to lay violent handsand on'Uranus.

Uranus was mutilated, cast into chains, and compelled by his sons to abdicate his sovereignty, which now passed to Cronus. But Cronus was not long destined to enjoy the fruits of his crime.

Cosn*ogo7iy Theogony. and

19

The curse of Uranus, who prophesied that he would suffer a like fate at the hands of his own son, was fulfilled. So anxious was he to avert such a catastrophe, that he swallowed his children immediately after their birth. Five had already suffered this fate-Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But their mother llhea, grieved at their lot, determined to rescueher next son, Zeus, by a stratagem. In the place of her

child, she gave to her suspicious and cruel husbanda stone wrappedin swaddling clothes, which he swallowed withoutfurther examination. Zeus, who was thus rescued,was reared

by the nymphsin a grotto on Mount Dicte, in Crete. The shegoatAmalthea served his nurse,whilst the beesbroughthim as honeyto eat. In order that the cries of the child might notbetray his presenceto his suspicious father, the Curetes, or attendant priests of Ehea, drowned his voice in the clashing of their weapons. Zeus remained thus hidden until he had become

a mighty though youthful god. He then attackedand overthrew his father Cronus, whom he also compelled, by meansof a device of Gasa, bring forth the children that he had devoured. to

One part of the Titans-Oceanus, Themis, Mnemosyne, and Hyperion-submitted without hesitationto the dominionof thenew ruler of the world. The others, however, refused allegiance; but Zeus, after a contest of ten years, overthrew them, with the

help of the Cyclopes Centimanes. As a punishment, and they

were cast into Tartarus, which was then closed by Poseidon with brazen gates. Thessaly, the land which bears the clearest traces of natural convulsions, was supposed to have been the sceneof this mighty war. Zeus and his adherents fought from Olympus; the Titans from the opposite mountain of Othrys. Comparisonof the legends of other nations does not show us any such elaborategenealogy. Zeus has his counterparts almost everywhere,ancl Uranus himself appearsin India; but Cronus, in the senseof the father of Zeus, is probably traceable to the

commonepithet of Zeus,Cronion? which wasassumed later in

20

Greekand Roman Mythology.

times to be a patronymic. It wasnatural to deduce from the idea that one power of nature sprang from another, the expression that the god of the first powerwasthe child of the god of the second;it would perhaps morecorrectto saytliat it he wasthe same thing to the early races men. As to the wars, of which weresogreata stumbling-block the Greekphilosophers, to we may noticethat the supreme must, of course, god have been the son of a supremegod; and yet, if his predecessor were supreme, must havedispossessed him.The Titans, not "being actually objects of worship, were not frequently represented in ancient art.

Cronus is the only exception, which may be explained by the

fact that the Romans identified him with

their own Saturn, or harvest-god. He is generally depicted

with a severe and

gloomy expression of countenance,the back of his head being veiled, as a symbol of

his ter. there reserved In the characVatican

Museum

at

Romeof this

is a bust

kind in goodpreservation, an engraving (Fig- !)"

Fig. 1.--Bust of Cronus. Vatican Museum.

of which we give After his victory over the Titans, Zeus shared the empire ofthe world with his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades. The

former he made ruler of the ocean and waters; the latter he set over the infernal regions; everything else he retained for himself. This new order of things, however, was by no means

Cosmlgony and Theogony.

21

securely established. The resentment of Gaealed her to produce with Tartarus, Jier youngest and most powerful son, the

giant Typhoeus, monster a with a hundredfire-breathing dragons'

heads* whom she sent to overthrow the dominion of Zeus.

A greatbattle took place, which shookheaven and earth. Zeus, by means his never-ceasing of thunderbolts,at length overcame Typhoeus, cast into Tartarus, according laterwriters and him or, to (Pindarand Yirgil), buriedhim beneath Mount j^Etna Sicily, Inwhence at times he still breathes out fire and flames toward heaven.

Somepoetstell of another rebellion, that of the Giants, against the dominion of Zeus. Theseare said to have sprung from the

drops bloodwhichfell onthe earthfrom,the mutilatedbody of of

Uranus. From the plains of Phlegra, in Thessaly, they sought to storm Olympus by piling Pelion on Ossa. But after a bloody battle, in which all the gods took part, the two were conquered, and sentto sharethe fate of the vanquished Titans. The dominion of Zeuswas now securelyestablished,and no hostile attack ever after disturbed the peaceful easeof the inhabitants of Olympus. The early history oi Zeus,aswell ashis contests the empireof the for universe, commonly calledthe Giganto-machia, a favourite subject waswith Greek art. In the more ancient of these works the Giants do not difor appearance,

fer, either in form

from the Gods and Heroes. In later

works they are re-

presented with the

bodies of dragons, only the upper

portionof thebodybeing human. They appear thuson the cameo celebrated of the

Naples Museum,where Zeus, in his chariot drawn by four fiery horses, is in the act of

chargingthem (Fig. 2).

PAET

II.-THE

GODS.

I.-THE

GODSA.-SUPERIOR

OF

OLYMPUS.DEITIES.

1. Zens (Jupiter),-Chief of the celestial deities is Zeus, called by the Komans Jupiter, the controller and ruler of the universe. As being the god of heavenpar excellence, " Skythe father/' he is to both nations the sourceof all life in nature, and

from his gracious handareshedblessing abundance.All the and phenomena the air weresupposed proceed of to from him. He gathers disperses clouds,castsforth his lightning, stirs and the up his thunder,sends downrain, hail, snow,and fertilising dewon the earth. With his segis-an impenetrable shield hung with a hundred golden tassels,in the midst of which the fearful head of the Gorgonis fastened-he producesstorm,and tempest. The segis,though often meaning shield, is properly a goat-skin fastened to and supporting the true shield; later it appears as a short cloak, and even as a breastplate, covered with scales, and fringed with serpents. It is not often found in representations of Zeus; though a statue of him at Leyden shows it, and in a cameo he is seen with it wrapped around his left arm: similarly it was common to wrap the chlamys or scarf round the left arm, for purposes'of defence. The segisusually belongsto Athene, who borrows it from her father in the Iliad. She

The Godsof Olympus.

23

is seen wearing it in Fig. 9. In this word we probably see a confusion of two idess, different, though,of similar origin; froia the sameroot that gives us the "springing" goat we have the storm-cloud " tossed " over the sky. The ancients,however, were not content to regard Zeus merely

asa personification Nature; they regarded of him alsofrom an

ethical standpoint, from which side he appearsfar more important and awful. They saw in him a personification, so to speak, of that

principleof undeviating orderand harmony which pervades both the physicaland moralworld. The strict unalterable laws bywhich he rules the community of the gods form a strong contrast

to the capricious commands his fatherCronus. HenceZeus of is regarded the protector and defenderof all political order. asFrom,him the kings of the earth receive their sovereignty and rights; to him they are responsible for a conscientious fulfilment of their duties. Those among them who unjustly exceed their powers and pervert justice he never fails to punish. Zeus,

moreover, also presidesover councils and assemblies, keeps

watch over their orderly course, and suggests to them wise counsels. One of the most important props of political society

is the oath; and accordingly, Zeus Horkios (op/aos, as deus

fidius of the Bomans), he watches over oaths, and punishes perjury. He also watches over boundaries, and accompanies the youths of the land as they march to the defenceof their country's borders, giving them the victory over the invaders. All civil and political communities enjoy his protection; but he particularly watches over that associationwhich is the basis of the political fabric-the family. The head of every household was therefore, in a certain sense,the priest of Zeus. It was he who presented the offerings to the god in the name of the family. At his altar, which generally stood in the middle of the court (in small households this was represented by the hearth), all strangers, fugitives, and suppliants found shelter. As Zeus Xenius (Jiospitalis) he protects the wanderer, aa<l

24

Greek Roman and Mythology*

punishes those who violate the ancient laws of hospitality by mercilessly turning the helpless stranger from their door. The superstition of early times saw in all the phenomenaofthe heavens manifestations of the divine will. Thus the chief

deity of heaven was naturally regardedas the highest sourceof inspiration, and was believed to reveal his will to men in the thunder, the lightning, the flight of birds, or dreams. As the supreme oracular deity, Zeus not only had an oracle of his own at Do dona in Epirus, which was the most ancient in Greece, but also revealed the future by the mouth of his favourite son Apollo. Though he possessedno proper oracle among the Romans, yet the latter looked with all the more care and anxiety on the phenomena of the air and sky, the right interpretation of which formed a special and difficult branch of knowledge. Zeus wasthe earliest national god of the Greeks. His wor ship extended throughout the whole of Greece,though someof his shrines had a special importance. The most ancient of them was that at Dodona, where the Pelasgian Zeus was worshipped at a time prior to the existence of any temples in Greece. He was here representedin the celebrated form of the sacredoak, in the rustling of whose branches the deity revealed himself to the faithful. He was also worshipped on the summit of Mount

Tomarus, the foot of which lay Dodona-mountain-tops at being

naturally the earliest seats of his worship. But all the earlier shrines were overshadowedby the great national seat of the worship of Hellenic Zeus at Olympia, on the northern banks of the river Alpheus, in Elis, where the renowned Olympian games were celebrated. The magnificent statue of Zeus, by Phidias, was an additional inducement to devotees,who flocked thither from every quarter. Neither was the worship of Jupiter any less extensive in

Italy. The most renowned all his shrines of was undoubtedly

The*Godsof Olympus.

25

the temple erected Tarquin on the Capitol at Borne. This, by afterbeing nearly destroyedby fire in the time of Sulla, wasrestored to more than its pristine splendour. The original earthen image was replaced by a statue of gold and ivory, the work of the Greek artist Apollonius, after the model of the Olympian Zeus. Before proceedingto discuss the god as he appearsin art, we must take a glance at his numerous family. The mythology of the Greeksstands in notorious contrast to that of the Eomans, in attributing to Zeus a great number of mortal as well as im-

mortalspouses, an unusuallynumerous and posterity. Here we

must remark that, in spite of the occasional jokes of the comic poets on the numerous amours of the god, and the consequent

jealousy Hera, therewasnothing farther from the intention of

of the Greeksthan to represent the supreme deity of heaven as a sensualand lascivious being. The explanation lies partly in the great number of contemporaneouslocal forms of worship that existed independently of each other, and partly in the fact that the lively fancy of the Greek pictured every new production under the guise of procreation. In that part of mythology which teaches the genealogy of the gods, the earliest wife of Zeus was Metis (prudence), the daughter of Oceanus. Zeus devoured her, fearing lest she should bear a son, who would

deprivehim of the empire it had cost him so much to attain.

It was soon after this that he produced Pallas Athene from his own head. His second goddess-wife was Themis, one of the Titans, by whom he became the father of the Horse and the Mcera3 (Fates). Dione appearsas the wife of Zeus of Dodona, and the mother of Aphrodite; whilst Arcadian Zeuswas wedded

to Maia, by whom he had Hermes. By Demeter(Ceres) he became father of Persephone the (Proserpine, goddess vegetaoftion) ; by Eurynome, a daughter of Oceanus, of the Charites

(Graces); Mnemosyne, the Muses; by Leto (Latona),of by of

26

Greek and Roman Mythologyf

Apollo and Artemis. The youngest all his divine wives,who of

was recognised later mythology as his only legitimate queen, by

was his sister Hera. By her he becamethe father of Ares (Mars), Hephaestus (Vulcan),and Hebe. Among his mortal mistresses most celebrated Semele, the is the daughter of Cadmus,king of Thebes,and mother ofDionysus.Io-will

The others-Leda,hereafter.

Danae, Alcmene, Europe, and

be mentioned

Themythologyof the Eomans, wehave alreadyremarked, as

first depicted Jupiter as devoid of all family ties. It was only after their religion had been Hellenised that men termed him the son of Saturn and Ops, made Juno his wife and Minerva his daughter. great extent of his worship and the great number of his templesthatexisted in Greece. Of all these the most renowned was the magnifiStatues of Zeus were necessarily very numerous, both from the

cent statue of Zeus at Olympia, the work of the Athenian sculptor Phidias (500-432B.C.). The figure wasseated a lofty throne,and on wasmore than 40 feet high. It wasmadeof goldand ivory, or more probably a statueof wood wasoverlaid with platesof ivory andgold. The uncoveredparts-the face, throat, breast,and hands-were of ivory. In his right hand was a figure of Victory, also of gold and ivory ; in his left wasa royal sceptre, the top of which perchedan on eagle. The numerous lengthy descriptions that exist can give usbut a faint idea of the lofty majesty that the sculptor diffusedover thecountenance of the god. The object of Phidias was to represent him

to mankind, not only as the omnipotent ruler of Olympus, far superiorto all godsand men, both in power and wisdom ; but also as the graciousfather of all, and the kindly dispenserof all good gifts. The hair, which rose straight from the brow, and then fell in equal divisions on either side,imparted to the face a lion-like expressionof conscious power. This wasrendered still more effectiveby the high forehead and strongly-formed nose. At the same time,

the expression the slightly-opened lips lent an idea of kindly of benevolence. The story goes that Phidias, after completing the statue,prayed of the god a sign that he was well pleased with his work. Zeusthereuponcaused flashof lightning to descend a through the openroof of the temple,and thus acknowledged own image. his This sublime masterpiece Phidias,which was reckoned of among the seven wondersof the world, continued in existence, though not

-Zeus

of Otricoli.

Vatican Museum.

The+Godsof Olympus.

29

without injury, for upwardsof 800 years. It appearsto have been destroyed fire in the time of TheodosiusIII. by

Fig. 4.-Jupiter C

Verospi.

Vatican Museum.

30

Grreek and Roman Mftkology.

The following.are the most important of the existing statuesof 2eus"by Greek and Boman sculptors. The first in point of artisticworth is a bust of Zeus, in Carrara marble-now in the Vatican Museum at Rome-which was discovered in the last century at

Otricoli (Fig. 3). The union of serenemajestyand benevolence is

the chief feature in the sublime countenance. Next comes a colossal

statue in marble, known as the Jupiter of Verospi, also in the beautiful bronze statue in the British Museum, found at Paramythia

Vatican Museum(Fig. 4). Lastly, there is a bust of Zeus,discovered at Pompeii,and now in the Museum at Naples,besides equally an in Epirus. On comparing the extant art monuments Zeus,we all of may gather that the object of ancient art was to present him especially the benign ruler of the universe, sitting enthroned in as

Fig. 5.-Coins of Elis with Phidias' Zeus. (After Overbeck.)

conscious majestyand blissful easeon the heights of Olympus. His characteristic featuresare the clusteringhair, falling like a maneon either side of his fine archedbrow, and the rich wavy beard. His attributes consistof the sceptre,as a symbol of his sovereignty ; the thunderbolt; the ea^le; the votive bowl, as a symbol of his worship ; the ball beneath or near his seat, as a symbol of the universehe rules; and,lastly, a figure of Victory. His headis sometimes adornedwith a garland of oak-leaves, oak beingsacred the to him ; and sometimes with an olive-branchor plain band,the latter being a mark of sovereignty. In Fig. 5 we give an engravingof twocoins of Elis, one of which is in the Florentine and the other in theParis Museum.

The- Godsof Olympus. 2. Hera (Juno).-Hera,

eldest of the daughters of Cronus and B.hea.

31She Is the

according to Homer, was the

feminine counterpart of Zeus, lier brother and husband. She represents air or atmosphere;for which reasonshe, the like Zeus,was supposed control the phenomena the air to of and sky, and, as queen of heaven,shared with him all thehonours of his position. Her conjugal relations to Zeus, which form the substance of all the myths that refer to her, afforded the poets a rich and productive material for serious

and sportive poetry. They sangof the solemn marriage Zeus of

and Hera, the remembrance of which was celebrated at springtide with festive offerings and marriage rites before the shrine of the goddess. Neither did they fail to tell of the conjugal strife of the royal pair, and of the cruel fate which overtook the mortal women who enjoyed the favours of Zeus. It was thus that jealousy and contention becamethe leading features in the character of the goddess; whereas, both in her worship and in the representations of artists, she appears as a gracious and kindly deity, the especial protectress of her own sex. The natural signification of Hera appears to have quickly disappeared among the Greeks, and she seems to have been chiefly honoured as the guardian of the marriage tie. The

nobleness the womanwho preserves of inviolate the sanctityof this bond finds in her its most sublime expression.^As thespecialpatronessof marriage, she was supposedto watch over its

sanctity, to vouchsafe blessingof children,and to protect the

women in childbirth.

The worship of Hera was originally not very extensive. The cradle of her worship was Argos, on which account she is often termed Argive. Argos, Mycenae,and Sparta are pointed out in

the time of Homer as her favourite towns. Her worship naturally extended her new character goddess marriage as of of became moreprominent. In Boeotiaand Euboea her worship

Greekand RomanMythology.was very ancient,but shrine her was chief the

Heraeum,between Argos and Mycenae Here was a

most magnificent statue of the goddess, madeof ivory andgold, the work of the Sicyonian artist, Polycletus.*

Juno (properly Jovino) takes the sameplace as goddess of childbirth

and patroness of marriage among

the the Romans Greeks. to as In this

Hera did among

addition

shewa^venerated,under the name

of Juno Eegina, as the tutelary deity of the city

Fig. 6.-Barberini Vatican Juno. Musuum.

and empire of

* Polycletus, a native of Sicyon, wasa sculptor, architect, and caster in bronze. He was a contemporaryof Phidias, and, next to him, the most celebratedartist of antiquity.

The Godsof Olympus.

33

Eome. Her chief shrine was on the Capitol, where she had

a separate chapelin the temple of Jupiter. The Matronalia,

the chief festival of the goddess, was celebrated on the first

Fig. 7.-Head of Hera, perhapsafter Polyeletus. Naples.

day of March, when all the matronsof the city marchedin procession her temple on the Esquiline, and there offered to

34

Greek and Roman Mythology s

her flowers and libations. The victims usually sacrificed to Juno were young heifers : her sacred birds were the goose and the crow, to which the peacock of the Greek Hera was afterwards added. The most celebrated of the art monuments that relate to Juno is

the Juno Ludovisi, a colossalmarble bust of remarkablebeauty,

which, thanks to casts and photographs, is tolerably well known. Her lofty and commanding countenance is the ideal of perfect

womanly beauty, combining in a rare degreewoman'schief ornaments-dignity and grace. After this comes the Juno Barberini of the Vatican Museum, an

entire and upright figure of great size (Fig. 6), distinguishedby the admirabledraping of the garments. The Farnese Juno, now in the NaplesMuseum, also deserves mention. In the same museumthereis a singularly beautiful head of Hera (Fig. 7), which perhaps lays claim to reflect the conception of Polycleius. The characteristic features of Juno are a somewhat prominent chin, expressing unbend ing determination of will; somewhat curling lips, well-defined nostrils, large lull eyes, and a high and noble forehead. The attributes of the goddess consist of the sceptre and diadem, significant of her power; the veil (often omitted in the statues of later artists), as a symbol of the married woman ; the votive bowl in the hand, the pomegranate as a symbol of love, and the peacock or

goose her feet, also at times the cuckoo,as herald of spring. at

3. Pallas Athene (Minerva).-The accounts which the Greeks gave of the birth of Pallas vary considerably. The most common is that which has been already mentioned. According to this, Zeus produced her from his head, which lie had ordered Hephaestusto cleave open. The great goddess of war, in full armour,, with poised spear, then sprang forth from her father's head, chanting a war-song, whilst a mighty commotion both on sea and land announced the great event to the world. In her physical character Pallas appearsas the goddess the dawn. The birth of the dawn from, the foreof head of the sky is not only a natural idea, but one which can be traced in the legends of other nations. Several of the other stories of her birth are connected with the name Tritogenia, the daughter of Tritos, a god, whose name, though not actually found in Greek mythology, may be traced in Amphitrite,

The Gods of Olympus.

35

Triton, and the Lake Tritonis. This name,which originally expressed birth of the dawn from the water, wasafterwards the explainedin various ways, and the first part wasevenderived from a provincialGreekword meaninghead. Looked at fromher ethical side, she appears as the goddess af wisdom, a reflection and personification of that profound wisdom and sagacitywith which Father Zeus controls the destinies of the world.

Hence we may easily gather the other features of her character. She is, in the first place, the protectress of states; and all that their welfare requires in peace or war proceedsfrom her. Thus she appears as goddessof peace as well as war. In the latter capacity she accompaniesthe army on its march, inspires the soldiers with ardour for the fray, and rewards them with victory and rich spoils; she also affords her mighty protection to towns and cities at home. In Homer she figures, besides,as the kindly

guide and protectress individual heroes, of such as Odysseus,

Achilles, Diomedes. It was she who first taught mankind to manage the horse, and to build ships and chariots; she also invented the war-trumpet and flute. As goddess of war she usually wears,besideshelmet, shield, and spear,the dreadful aegis. The latter, in art monuments, is represented as a breastplate coveredwith dragon's scales,and surrounded with serpents, in the midst of which is the dreadful head of Medusa, which has the effect of turning every one that looks on it into stone. As goddessof peace, Athene is equally lavish in blessing. Everything necessary either to the physical or intellectual welfare of mankind was believed to proceed from her, and to be subject to her influence. Accordingly, useful inventions of all kinds are ascribed to her. It was she who firot gave men the rake and the plough; it was she who invented the distaff and loom, as well as the art of dyeing woven stuffs, and many other feminine accomplishments.

By later writers this skill in art is extended otherthings, to and she is represented the patronessof every branch of asscience,art, and manufacture.

36

Greekand Roman Mythology:

Sheis also calledAthene Hygiea,"because was believed she

to send pure atmosphere,to ward off pestilence,and to promote the growth and health of the youth of the land. We cannot wonder, therefore, that the worship of a goddess so benevolent, and exercising such an important influence on human life, was very extensive in Greece. Nowhere did she receive a higher degreeof veneration than at Athens, of which city she was really the tutelary deity. Her most important ehrine was the Parthenon (temple of the virgin goddess),which was erected by Pericles on the Acropolis, and the remains of which, even in the present day, excite the wonder and admiration of the world. The whole land of Attica was, indeed, in a certain measure, the peculiar property of the goddess,which she wonafter her well-known contest with Poseidon. Zeus had decreed

the sovereignty over Attica to that deity who shouldbestowon the land the mostuseful present. Poseidon thereupon created the horse; but Athene caused olive-treeto grow,and was thethus held to have won the victory. The sacredolive-tree, which was thus called into existence, was shown in the Temple of Erechtheus on the Acropolis, and possessed such a wonderful

vitality that, when the Persiansburnt it after capturing the

town, it immediately put forth a fresh shoot. Argos and Corinth were also renowned seats of the worship of Pallas

Athene; and shealsoenjoyedthe highestveneration Sparta, in

Boeotia,Thessaly, Arcadia, and Ehodes. The Roman Minerva, whose name was derived from a root meaning " to think," was Hellenised at a very early period, and identified with the Greek Pallas. In Borne, however, the warlike character of the goddesswas completely merged in that of the peaceful inventress and patroness of the art and sciences, and of all handiwork of women. She was here worshipped, in company with Jupiter and Juno, as the tutelary deity of the city-and empire, and had, in consequence, own shrine in the her

temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. She also had templeson the

The Godsof Olympus.

37

Aventine and Coeliaii hills, to which a third was added "by Pompey, in 61 B.C.,in the Campus Martins. Festivals of the goddess.- The Panathensea, the chief festival of the Greek Pallas, were celebrated with great pomp every four years. A solemn procession passedthrough the streets of Athens up to the Acropolis; and an offering was made to the

goddess the shapeof a costly garment (peplus),artistically in

embroidered by the Athenian maidens. Horse races, athletic and musical contests,took place at the same time. Another festival of less importance, called the Lesser Panathensea, was celebratedevery year at Athens in honour of the goddess. At Rome the chief festival of Minerva, the Quinquatrus

Majores, held on the 19th of March, andwas,in later times, was extended five days. It wasespecially to observed all engaged byin intellectual pursuits, and by artists and artisans. As Minerva

wasalsopatroness schools,the schoolboys took part in of also

the celebration, and enjoyed,a welcome holiday. The virgin goddesswas at all times a favourite subject withancient art. Even in the earliest times, before casting in bronze or

marble sculpture was known, while the imagesof the gods wereas yet rudely carved in wood, Pallas was a frequent subject of delineation. Thesewoodenimagesusually represented goddess the as standing upright with poised spear in front of the battle, and were then called Palladia. Men delighted to believethem to have fallen from heaven,and to be a sure meansof protection againsthostile attack. When Greek art was in its prime, the first masters vied with each other in the representation of the goddess. Phidias

outdid them all in his renownedstatue of Athene Parthenos,which stoodin the temple on the Acropolis. The figure was 39 feet high, andwasconstructed ivory and gold. Its majestic of beautynaturally formed one of the chief attractions of the magnificent temple. It disappeared, without leaving any clue behind it, during the stormy periodof the invasion, the nomadictribes. In proceeding give an. of to account the mostimportant existing statues the goddess, must of of we first mentiona magnificentmarble bust which King Ludwig I. of Bavaria procuredfor the Munich collection,and which was formerly in the Villa Albarii, at Borne. The goddess here wearsa tight-fitting

helmet, topof which, decorated a serpent, emblem the is with the of

38

Greek and Roman Mythology*

wisdom. Her breastplate, which is borderedwith serpents, like falls a cape over her shoulders,and is fastened in the middle by the Gorgon's head, a terrible but striking contrastto the pure and noble countenance of the goddess. A fine bust, with a delicate

and youthful expression of countenance, preserved is

in the Vatican Museum atRome.

Another, not lessbeauti-

ful, but with grave and

almost masculine features,was discovered in the exca-

vations of Pompeii, and is no \v in the Naples Museum.

Among existing (fulllength) statues, the Pallas Giustiniani, of the Vatican

Museum at Borne, is held

to be the finest (Fig. 8). This probably once stood in a Roman temple, having been found in a place where there was formerly

a temple of Minerva.This statue, in accordance with the Roman conception, bears a more peaceable character, although neither the spear nor helmet are wanting. Nextcome two statues found

near Velletri, one of which is in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, whilst theother forms a chief ornament of the Louvre collection in Paris. Both re-

present the goddessin the

character a benigndeity offostering all peacefulworks, with a gentle but earnest - expression of countenance.. 8.-Pal las Giustiniani. Vatican.

Fig. 9. -Athene

Polias.

Villa Albaui.

40

Greekand RomanMythology.

The FarneseMinerva of the Naples Museum and the "Hope" copyin Londonbetray similar characteristics. On the other hand, in a statue discoveredat Herculaneum (now at Naples), Minerva appears as a warlike goddess,in an evidently hostile attitude (Fig. 10). This is alsothe case with the celebrated statueat the Louvre, which, on accountof the necklaceworn "bythe goddess, generally is called Minerveau Collier; and again in a statueof the Villa Alban'in which a lion's skinthrown over the head

^~^

takes the place of the

characteristic features of

helmet(Fig. 9). On combining the

Minerva, we may gather that her most prominent trait is a lofty seriousness, well befitting the chaste, grave character of the virgin goddess. The closed lips and the

prominentchin betrayadetermined and resolute

disposition, whilst her mien and bearing give token of strength and dignity.animals of Minerva we

Among the favourite

may mention the ser-

pent, the owl, and the

cock. The first is a

symbol of wisdom,the second of profound

meditation, and the last

of eagerdesire for the fray. The attributes of Minerva consist of the Fig.10.-Pallas Athene. Naples. aegis, which serves a shield,the spear, as and the helmet. The helmetis sometimes adorned with the figures of griffins, significant of the

overpowering might of the wearer. The statues all fully clothed, are in accordance with the chastecharacterof the goddess. 4. Apollo.-As Athene is the favourite daughter of Zeus, so

Apollo ranks as the most gloriousand beautiful of his sons.

Like other sons of Zeus, he is a god of light, and, indeed, the

The Gods of Olympus.

41

purest and highest representativeof this mighty power in nature. His mother,Leto (Latona),is a representative the ofdarkness of the night. According to the sacred legend, she was compelled when pregnant to wander about, because mankind, dreading the appearanceof the mighty god, refused to receive her. This myth was afterwards altered by later writers, who

assignthe jealousy of Hera as the causeof her wanderings.

Leto at length found a refuge on Delos, which was once a floating island, and had to be fastened to the bottom of the seaby meansof lofty columns. As the bright god of heaven, to whom everything impure and unholy is hateful, we find Apollo, soon after his birth, preparing to do battle with the evil powers of darkness. With his arrows he slew both the giant Tityus and the serpent Python, the latter a monster that in-

habited the valley of the Plistus, near Delphi, and destroyed

both men and cattle. These and similar myths are merely a panegyric on the conquering power exercised by the genial warmth of Spring over the dark gloom of Winter. But though Apollo thus appears as the foe of all that is evil and impure, ancient myths, nevertheless, represent him also as a terrible god of death, sending virulent pestilencesand dealing out destruction to men and animals by means of his unerring arrows. This may be easily explained, however, by glancing at the natural signification of the god. The rays of the sun do indeed put to flight the cold of winter, but as their heat increasesthey themselvesultimately become the causeof disease and death. This is beautifully portrayed in the fable of the death of Hyacinthus. To proceed further in the analysis of his character as god of light, Apollo next appears as the protector of streets and houses. A conical pillar was usually erected at the side of the doors of houses as a symbol of him, and a defenceagainst all sorceries. Connected with this is his repute as a god of health; one who is

42

Greek and Roman Mythology?

indeed able to send diseaseand death, but who, on. the other

hand,is all-powerfulto protect against physicalmaladies. This featurein his character, however, more extensively is developed in the personof his son,Asclepius(^Esculapius).But it is notonly outward ills that this wonder-working deity can cure: as the true redeemerfrom sin and crime, he alone can afford con-

solationto guilty souls. Even those pursuedby the Furieshe

sometimes receives in tenderness and pity, a fine instance of which is found in the story of Orestes. It is here that we must seekthe explanation of his characteras god of music; in the fact that it exercisesso soothing and tranquillising an influence on the soul of man. His favourite instrument was the lyre, which he

waswont to play with masterlyskill at the banquets the of

gods,whilst the Muses accompanied him with their wondrous strains. Apollo was therefore regarded as the leader of the Muses (Musagetes); and all the great singers of antiquity, such as Orpheus and Linus, are mythically representedas his sons.

But' Apollo attained his greatest importance among the

Greeksas god of prophecy. His oraclescontinued to exercise an important influence on social and political life, even down to the latest times. . The inspiration of Apollo was distinguished by the fact that the god revealed the future less by meansof outward signs than by inducing an ecstatic condition of mind bordering on madnessin those personsthrough whom he wished to proclaim his oracles. These were generally women and

maidens, who, either at oracularshrines proper, or dwelling aloneas Sibyls,gave forth the responses the god. In early oftimes they were somewhat numerous. There was an oracle at Clarus, near Colophon; an oracle at Didyma, near Miletus; and an oracle on the Ismenus, near Thebes. These were eventually all thrown into the shadeby that of Delphi. The responses of this oracle exercised,during a long period of Grecian history, an all-powerful influence, especially on the Dorian tribes. The

The Godsof Olympus.

43

convulsions of the Pythia, or priestessof Apollo, were brought

aboutpartly by the chewingof laurel leaves,and partly by the gaseous vapours that issuedfrom a cleft in the earth beneath the sacred tripod. The ecstaticcondition in which shegavethe responses, which were comprehensible only to the initiated priests, manifested itself in a foamingat the mouth and in convulsions of the body. Delphi naturally became the chief seat of the worship of Apollo. The gorgeous temple was rebuilt in the time of the Pisistratidse, after the destruction of the old one by fire. Its wealth from offerings becameso great that their value was computed at 10,000 talents (more than 2,000,000). In the neighbourhoodof Delphi the Pythian gameswere celebrated in the third year of every Olympiad. The shrine of the god at Delos, his birthplace, was little less renowned. The sanctuary itself was situated at the foot of Mount Cynthus; but the whole island was sacredto the god, for which reasonno one was buried there. Here, too, games,said to have been instituted by Theseus, were celebrated every four years in honour of the god. Apollo had, besides,a great number of less celebrated shrines and temples, not only in Greece,but also in Asia Minor, and wherever the Greek coloniesextended. The Apollo of the Romans, as his name indicates, was trans-

ferred to Romefrom Greece. At a comparatively early period

men began to feel the want of a prophetic deity, as the Roman gods, although they vouchsafed hints as to the future, confined their responses a mere Yea or Nnj. Moreover, in the character to

of god of healing,hewasearly admittedinto the Roman system, as we gather from the fact that the first temple really dedicated to Apollo was erected in 429 B.C.,under the pressure of a grievous pestilence. The worship of Apollo wasespecially exaltedby the EmperorAugustus,who ascribedhis victory at Actium chiefly to the assistance the god. He accordingly of

44

Greek and Roman Mythology

erected magnificent a temple to Apollo on tile Palatine,which

wasembellishedwith the celebratedstatue of Apollo Citharoedus, by Scopas.

Fig. 11.- Apollo Belvedere.

Vatican.

The Godsof Olympus.

45

god. Apollo constantly bears very youthful appearance, is a and

always beardless. His figure is strong and handsome,his head covered with fair clusteringlocks, and his faceexpressive majesty, of but markedwithal by a cheerful serenity. Such is the original and

This remark leadsus to contemplatethe different statuesof the

Fig. .12.-Head of Apollo Belvedere.

fundamentaltype, which wasusually followed in the representation of the god. It wasprincipally developed Scopas by and Praxiteles, who belonged the later Attic school,which flourished from the to end of the Pelopoanesian to the reign of Alexander the Great. war

46

Greek Roman and Mythology/

Theprincipalcreation Scopas a marble, of was statue, representing

the god as a Pythian Citharoadiis with the lyre in his hand, clothedin a long robe reaching to the feet.

This invaluable work was procured by Augustus for the temple he erectedto Apollo on the Palatine. Praxiteles,a younger contemporary of Scopas, acquired considerable renown by his bronze figure of a youthful Apollo pursuing a lizard (Apollo Sauroctonus). In existing art monuments sometimes conceptionof a warlike, the vengefuldeity obtains,in which case godis represented nude, the as or nearly so,and armed with quiver and bow. At other times he wearsa mild and benevolent aspect; he is then distinguishedby his lute, and completelyenvelopedin a chlamys. Of the former kindis the most beautiful and celebrated of all his existing statues, the ancient Antium, and is now in the Vatican.

Apollo Belvedere, which was discovered 1503,near Nettuno, the in sciou-^nessa conqueringdeity is inimitably expressed his whole of in attitude. He standswith his right hand and leg againstthe trunk of a tree, his left arm outstretched,with the regis, probably as a symbolof fear and terror, in his hand. The serpentcreepingup the tree is a symbol of the powersof darkness vanquished the god by(Fig. 11). It may also be taken as the symbol of life and healing, like the serpent of Asclepius (see p. 96). We have also given a larger engraving of the head of the Belvedere Apollo, in order to afford a clearer idea of its wondrous beauty (Fi^. 12). The proud self-con-

The so-called Apollino, of the Florencegallery, a youthful figure restingafter battle, is a work of scarcely beauty. The shapeof less the body,which is entirely nude, is wonderfully soft and delicate. With his left arm the god leans upon a tree ; in his left hand he negligentlyholds the bow,whilst his right hand is raisedto his head in a meditativefashion. The FarncseApollo of the NaplesMuseum possesses equally graceful form. The god is hererepresented an as

a musician; hisleft handheholdsthelyre,whilsthisright glides in

over the strings. The animatedexpression his face,indicating his of entire devotion to his art, is exquisitely beautiful. The gooseat his feet, which wasregarded even by the ancientsas a music-loving bird, appears drink in with rapture the heavenlytones. to In thoseworks which represent god as a Pythian lute-player the in a long Ionian garment,we perceivean almost femininefigure and a visionary expression face. The most important works of this of kind are the Apollo Citharoadus the Munich collection (Fig. 13), of formerly called the Muse of Barberini, which is markedby a somewhat quieter attitude ; and the so-calledApollo Musagetes the of Vatican collection, which is characterised a lively dancing moveby ment of the figure, and is generally regarded an imitation of the as masterpiece Scopas of already mentioned. A pure and heavenly inspiration seemsto pervade the features of the laurel-crowned

The Godsof Olympus.

47

god; his mighty lyre, to the tonesof which lie appears besinging, to is suspended from a band across chest,and is aptly adornedwith the the portrait of Marsyas,his vanquished rival.

ing 13.-Apollo

Citharcedus.

Munich,

48

Greekand Roman Mythology.

Lastly, the graceful statue of Apollo Sauroctouus(Lizard-slayer) deserves mention. Many copiesof it still exist,the chief of which isa marble statue in the Vatican collection. The delicate figure of the god, midway between youth and boyhood, leans carelessly against the trunk of a tree, up which a lizard is creeping. The god is eagerly watching its movements, in order to sei2e a favourablemoment to nail it to the tree with his arrow.

The principle attributes of Apollo are the bow, arrows, quiver,

laurel crown, and lyre.

prophetic power, the tripod and the omphalos (navel), the lattex being a representation the earth's centrein the temple at Delphi, of on which he is often depicted as sitting. The god also appears standingon the omphalos as in the case a marble statue lately ; offound in the theatre of Dionysus. His sacred animals were the

To these may be added, as symbols of his

wolf, the hind, the bat, the swan, the goose, and the dolphin ; thethree last being music-loving creatures.

5. Artemis (Diana).-Artemis is the feminine counterpart

of her twin brother Apollo, with whom she entirely harmonises when regarded from her physical aspect. Like him, she is a beautiful and propitious deity; but like him, too, she can deal out, at times, death and destruction among mankind. Like Apollo, she promotesthe growth of the young plant, and is equally the foe of all that is evil and impure. Like him, she is skilled in the use of the bow, of which she avails herself, however, not only for the destruction of monsters, but also at timesto chastise the insolence of man-witness the death of the

children of Niche. Her favourite amusement is the chase; armed with quiver and bow she ranges mountain and valley, accompanied by a band of nymphs. The chase ended, she delights to bathe in some fresh spring, or to lead off some favourite dance on the flowery meadows, surrounded by her nymphs, all of whom she overtops by a head. Then the heart

of her mother,Leto, rejoices shegazes the innocentsports as on

of her lovely daughter. As a virgin goddessshe was especially venerated by young maidens, whose patronessshe remained till their marriage, and to whom she afforded an example of chastity. The story of

The Godsof Olympus.

49

Actaeon,who was changed into a stag and then torn to pieces

by his own dogs, shows that shedid not sufferanyinjury to her virgin modestyto go unpunished. (For this story see theTheban legends.)

Originally,Artemis appears have been the goddess the to of moon, just asher brother Apollo is unmistakably identical withthe sun. This conception, however, continued to grow fainter and fainter, until, in the later days of confusion of religions,

it wasagainrevived. Artemiswasfrequently confounded with

Seleneor Phoebe(Luna), The national Artemis of the Greeks was originally quite distinct from the Artemis Orthia, a dark and cruel deity, to whom human sacrifices were offered in Laconia. Lycurgus abolished this barbarous custom, but causedinstead a number of boys to be cruelly whipped before the image of the goddess onthe occasion of her animal festival. This is the same Artemis

to whom Agamemnon was about to offer, in Aulis, his daughter Iphigcnia, previous to the departure of the Greeks for Trov. The Scythians in Tauris likewise had a goddess whom they propitiated with human sacrifices. This caused her to be con-

founded with ArtemisOrthia,and the story arose that Iphigeuia

was conveyed by the goddessto Tauris, from which place she

subsequently, assistedby her brother Orestes,brought the

image of the goddessto Greece. The Ephesian Artemis, known to us as "Diana of the Ephesians," was distinct from all that have been mentioned. She was, in fact, an Asiatic, not a Hellenic deity. The Eornan Diana, who was early identified with ".he Greek Artemis, was likewise originally a goddess of the moon. As

such,shepossessedveryancientshrineon Mount Algidus,near a Tusculum. Like the GreekArtemis, shewasalso regarded as the tutelarygoddess women, of and was invoked by women in childbirth. This wasalsothe case with Artemis, although the

Fig. 14.-Diuna

of Versailles.

The Gods of Olympus.

51

matrons of Greecelooked for more protection in this respect at the hands of Hera. She gained, however, a certain political

importance Korneafter having beenmadeby ServiusTullius in

the tutelary deity of the Latin League. As such, she possessed ii sacredgrove and temple on the Aventine.Artemis is a favourite subject with the masters of the later Attic

school. Sheis alwaysrepresented youthful, slender and light of as foot, and without womanly fulness. Her devotion to the chaseis clearlybetokened the quiver and bow which she generally bears, by andby the high girt robeand Cretanshoes, which allow her to pass unencumbered through the thickets of the forest. Among existing statues,the most celebrated the so-calledDiana isof Versailles, which came from the Villa of Hadrian, at Tibur

(Fig. 14). It is now a chief ornamentof the Louvre collect ion, and is a worthy companion the BelvedereApollo, although it doesnot to quite equalthis in beauty. In this statuethe goddess doesnot appearas a huntress, but rather as the protectress of wild animals.

conceived havingjust cometo the rescueof a limited deer, and is as

in the act of turning with angry mien on the pursuers. With her

She is

right hand she graspsan arrow from the quiver that hangs at herback, and in her left she holds the bow. goddess in a most striking attitude.

A really beautiful statue of the Vatican collection depicts the deadlyarrow, and is eagerlywatching its effect. The hound at herside is just about to start in eager pursuit of the mark, which was evidently therefore a wild animal. In, her left hand is the bow, still strung, from which her right hand has just directed the arrow. Her She has just sent forth her

foot is likewise upraised in triumph, and her whole deportment expresses proudjoy of victory. The chief attributes of Diana are the bow, quiver, and spear,and also a torch, as an emblemof her power to dispense light and life. The hind, the dog,the bear,and the wildboar were esteemed sacred to her.

6. Ares (Mars).-Ares, the sonof Zeusand Hera,represents war from its fatal and destructivevside, which he is clearly bydistinguished from Athene, the wise disposerof battles. He was, it is probable, originally a personification of the angry clouded sky. His home,according to Homer, was in Thrace, the land of boisterous,wintry storms, among whose warlike inhabitants he

was held in high esteem,although his worship was not so

52

Greek and Roman Mythology;

extensivein Greece. Homer, in the Iliad, paints in particularly lively colours the picture of the rude "manslaying" god of war. He here appears as a deity who delights only in the wild din of battle, and is never weary of strife and slaughter. Clad in brazen armour from head to foot, with waving plume, helmet, and high-poised spear,his bull's hide shield on his left arm, he

ranges the battlefield, casting down all before him in his

impetuous fury. With strength he combines great agility, and is, accordingto Homer, the fleetest of the gods. Strong though he be, however, he is overmatched in battle by Athene; a palpable indication that prudent courage often accomplishes more than impetuous violence.The usual attendants and servants of Ares are Fear and

Terror. By somewriters they are described as his sons, yet in Homer they fight against him. There is little to be said of the

principal seatsof his worship in Greece. In Thebes was he

regarded as the god of pestilence; and Aphrodite, who elsewhere appearsas the wife of Hephaestus, was given him to wife. Ey her he becamethe father of Harmonia, who married Cadmus,and thus became the ancestress of the Cadmean race in Thebes.

According to an Athenian local legend, his having slain a son of Poseidon gave rise to the institution of the Areopagus. He was here regardedas the god of vengeance. A celebratedstatue by -Alcamenesadorned his temple at Athens. Among the warlike people of Sparta the worship of Ares was also extensive. This deity was regardedwith a far greater degreeof veneration in Rome, under the appellation of Mars, or Mavors. He seems to have occupied an important position even among the earliest Italian tribes. It was not as god of war, however-for which,

amid the peaceful pursuitsof cattle-rearing husbandry, and they caredlittle-but as the god of the spring triumphing over thepowers of winter that he was worshipped. It was from his

bounty that the primitive people looked for the prosperous

The Godsof Olympus.

53

growthof their flocksand the fruits of their fields; it wasMars

on whom they called for protection against bad weather and destructive pestilence. In warlike Rome, however, this deity soon laid aside his

peaceful character, donnedthe bright armourof the god of and

war. He was even regarded as being, after Jupiter, the most

importantgod of the stateandpeopleof Rome. Nurna himself gavehim a flamenof his own,and createdor restoredin his honourthe priesthoodof the Salii. The occasion, according to thesacred legend, on this wise. As King Numaonemorning, wasfrom the ancient palace at the foot of the Palatine, raised his

handsin prayer to Jove,beseeching protectionand favour his

for the infant state of Rome, the god let fall from heaven, as a mark of his favour, an oblong brazen shield (ancile). At the sametime a voice was heard declaring that Rome should endure as long as this shield was preserved. Numa then caused the sacredshield, which was recognised as that of Mars, to be carefully preserved. The better to prevent its abstraction, he ordered an artist to make eleven others exactly similar, and instituted for their protection the college of the Salii, twelve in number,like the shields, who were selected from the noblest families in

Rome. Every year in the month of March, which was sacred

to Mars, they bore the sacredshields in solemn procession

through the streets of Rome, executing warlike dances and chanting ancient war-songs. From the days of Numa the worship of "Father Mars3' continued to acquire an ever-increas-

ing popularity. Beforethe departure a Romanarmy on any of expedition,the imperator retired to the sanctuary the god in of the old palace, theretouchedthesacred and shieldsand the spear of thestatue Mars,crying aloudat the same of time, "Mars, watch over us!" Accordingto popular belief, the god himself wentunseenbefore the host as it marched to battle, whence he wascalled "Gradivus." In the war with the Lucanians and

54

Greek and Roman Mythology.

Bruttians(282 B.C.), when the consuls were hesitatingwhether

to begin the attack, an unknown youth of extraordinary stature and beauty encouragedthe troops to begin the assault on the enemy's camp, and was himself the first to scale the wall. When he was afterwards sought for, in order that he might receive his richly merited reward, he had disappeared,leavingno trace behind him. As it could have been none other than

Father Mars, the consul, Fabricius, decreedhim a thanksgiving of three days' duration. Mars naturally received a due share of all booty taken in war. Defeat was ascribed to his wrath, which men strove to avert by extraordinary sin-offerings. Popular belief made Mars the father, by a vestal virgin, of Komulus and Eemus, the legendary founders of the city. His wife appearsto have been]STerio;but she enjoyed no honours atjRome.

In attendanceon Mars we find Metus and Pallor, who answer to the Greek deities already mentioned; and also his sister

Bellona,corresponding the Enyo, who was worshipped to in Pontusand Cappadocia, though not in Greece proper. Bellonahad a temple in the Campus Martins. The Campus Martius (Field of Mars), the celebratedplace of exerciseof the Eoman youth, stretched from the Quirmal westwards to the Tiber, and was dedicated to the god of war. Augustus, after the overthrow of the murderers of Caesar, his adoptive father, erected a temple to Mars, which was built in Greek style, and far surpassedin grandeur and splendour all the

othertemples the god. Threecolumns it arestill standing, of of mute witnessesof vanished splendour. A large number ofreligious festivities were celebrated in the month of March in honour of Mars. The processionof the Salii formed the chief

featureof the festival; but there were also racesand games. On the Idesof October also a chariotracetook placein honour

The Godsof Olympus.

55

of Mars, whichthesin0Lilar at custom prevailed offering of the

nearhorseof the victoriousteam to the god. The inhabitants of the two oldest quartersof the city contendedfor the headof the slaughtered animal, and whoever got it was supposed to reap great blessings from its possession.Ancient artists re-

presen Mars atall ted as

and powerful young man, whose activity, however, is as apparent as his strength.His characteristic

of the Villa been conof work the of

Ludovisi, at Rome. It jectured that this is Scopas. The deity is depicted as resting after battle ; and, in spite of the usual turbulence of his disFis 15~~M;trs position, he here appears to have surrendered himself to a more

gentleframe of mind. The little god of love crouching at his feet gazes into his face with a roguish, triumphant smile, as thoughrejoiced to see that even the wildest and most untameuble must submit to his sway, and thus shows us what has called forth this

gentlemood. (Fig. 15.) The MarsLudovisi is an originalwork,

56

Greek and Roman Mythology.

Greekin its origin, though belonging to a somewhatlate period. The Borghese Marsof the Louvre,on the other hand, is undoubtedly

of Romanorigin. It is supposed to representAres bound by the

craft of Hephaestus. Besides these two principal statcollection deserves mention. It is

ues, bustof Marsof the Munich the

distinguished by a peculiarly expressive head,of which wegive an

engraving (Fig. 16).The attributes of Mars are the

helmet (decoratedwith the figures of wolf-hounds and griffins), sacred to him were the wolf, the horse, and the woodpecker.

shield, and spear. The animals

7. Aphrodite

(Venus).-

In the Iliad, Aphrodite is represented as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the goddess moisof ture, who, as the wife of the

godof heaven, held in high was

.

Fig 16.-Bust of Ares. Sculpture Gallery

A ,

esteem among the old Pelasgians. The same notion

&

at Munich.

of the

&

goddess being producedfrom moistureis seenin the legend, which relatesthat Aphroditewasborn of the foam of the sea, and first touched land on the island of Cyprus, which was henceforth held sacred her. She was probably a personifito cation of the creative generative and forces nature,and figured of amongthe Greeks goddess beautyand sexuallove. We as ofmust not forget that this conception does not cover the whole

characterof the goddess. She not only appears Aphrodite as Pandemus (the earthlyAphrodite),a goddess the spring,by of whosewondrouspowerall germsin the natural and vegetable

The Gods of Olympus.

57

world are quickened, but we also hear of Aphrodite Urania, a celestial deity, who was venerated as the dispenserof prosperity and fertility; and also an Aphrodite Poutia (of the sea), the tutelary deity of ships and mariners, who controlled the winds and the waves, and granted to ships a fair and prosperous

passage.As the worship of Aphroditewasextremelypopular

among the numerous islands and ports of the Grecian seas,we can well imagine that it was in this latter character that she receivedher greatest share of honour. The poets paint Aphrodite as the most beautiful of all the goddesses, whose magic power not even the wisest could withstand. Even wild animals were conscious of her influence, and pressed round her like lambs. She was endowed with the celebratedlove-begetting magic girdle, which she could lay aside at will and lend to others. And as she thus gave rise to passion in others, she herself was not free from its influence. This is evidencedby the numerous stories of her amours with the gods or favoured mortals, which it is so difficult to bring into harmony with each other. Sometimes Ares, sometimes Hephcestus, is said to be her husband. The latter account, which originated iu Lemnos,wasthe more popular; doubtless becauseits very strangeness in mating the sweetest and most lovely of the goddesses with the larne and ugly god of fire had a certain charm, j^o children are mentioned as springing from the union of Aphrodite with Hephaestus; but Eros and Anteros, as well as Demus and Phobus, are said to be her children by Ares. Other legends,

generally of a local character,unite her to Dionysus, or to

Hermes.

The story of her love for the beautiful Adonis clearly re-

presents decayof nature in autumn, and its resuscitation the in spring. Adonis, whom Aphrodite tenderly loved, was killed,when hunting, by a wild boar. Inconsolable at her loss,

Aphrodite piteouslyentreatedFather Zeus to restorehis life.

58

Greek and Roman Mythology.

Zeus at length consentedthat Adonis should spend one part of the year in the world of shadows,and the other in the upper world. Clearly the monster that deprived Adonis of life is only a symbol of the frosty winter, before whose freezing blast all life in nature decays. In the story of Troy, Aphrodite plays an important part. She was the original cause of the war, having assistedParis in his elopementwith Helen. This was his reward for his celebrated judgment, in which he awarded the prize of beauty to Aphrodite in preference to Hera or Athene. Besides the Trojan prince Anchises enjoyed her favours, and she became by him the mother of the pious hero JSneas. The goddessappearsever ready to assist unfortunate lovers; thus she aided the hero Peleus to obtain the beautiful sea-nymph Thetis. On the other hand, she punishes with the utmost severity thosewho from pride or disdain resist her power. This

appears the legendof Hippolytus, son of Theseus, in King of

Athens, whom she ruined through the love of his stepmother Phaedra; also in the story of the beautiful youth Narcissus, whom she punished by an ungratified self-love, because he had despisedthe love of the nymph Echo. The Seasons and the Graces appear in attendance on

Aphrodite. Their office is to dress and adorn her. She is also accompanied Eros, Pothus,and Himerus (Love,Longby ing, and Desire), besidesHymen, or Hymenoeus, god of themarriage.

The Roman"Venus(the Lovely One) was regarded the by

earlier Italian tribes as the goddess of spring, for which reason April, the month of buds, was held sacred to her. She early acquired a certain social importance, by having ascribed to her

a beneficent influence promotingcivil harmonyandsociability in

among men.

After her identification with the Aphrodite of the Greeks,

The Godsof Olympus.

59

she became more and more a goddess merely of sensual love and desire. She had three principal shrines-those of Venus Murcia, Venus Cloacina, and Libitina. The first of these surnames points to Venus as the myrtle goddess

(the myrtle beingan emblemof chastelove); her temple

was situated on the brow of the Aventine, and was supposed to have been erected by the Latins, who were planted there by Ancus Marcius.

The temple of. Venus Cloacina (the Purifier) was said

to have been erected in memory of the reconciliation of the Eomans and Sabines, after the rape of the Sabine women. The surname of Libitina points to her as goddess of corpses. All the apparatus of funerals were kept in this temple, and her attendants were at the same time the public undertakers of the city.To these ancient shrines was added another in the time of

Julius Cassar,who erected a temple to Venus Gonetrix, the

goddess wedlock, fulfilment of a vow madeat the battle of of in

Pharsalus.

Aphrodite, or Venus,is notoriously an especiallycommon subject of representation amongthe artists of antiquity. The task of giving expressionto the most perfect female beauty, arrayed in all the charms of love,by meansof chisel or brush, continually spurs the artist to fresh endeavours. It was especiallyamong the mastersof the later Attic school,who devotedthemselvesto the representationof the youthful and beautiful among the gods in whom the nude

appeared leastoffensive, that statues Venus wereattempted. The of Venus of Cnidus,by Praxiteles,wasthe most important work of that master; and the people of Cnidus were so proud of it that they engraved imageon their coins. The fact that they ventured to her portray the goddess entirely nude may be regarded a sign both as as of the falling away of the popular faith and of the decay of art.

60

Greekand Eoman Mythology.

Henceforth,exceptin the case statues the temples, became of for it an

established custom to represent Venus and other kindred deities as

nude. Venus is further distinguished by a fulness of form, which is, nevertheless, combinedwith slenderness grace. The counandtenance is oval; the eyes are not large, and have a languishing expression ; the mouth is small, and the cheeksand chinlull and round.

Of the numerousexisting statueswe

can here mention only the most important. First among them in artistic worth is a marble sjtatuelarger than life, whichwas found in 1820 on the island of Melos

(Milo), and is now in the Louvre at Paris (Fig. 17). In this statue only the upper part oi the body is nude, the lower portions, from the hips downward, being

covered with a light garment. One

scarcely knows which to admire most in this splendid statue-the singularly dignified expression of the head, or the charming fulness and magnificent proportionsof the limbs. The arms are quite broken off, so that we cannot determine

the conceptionof the artist with any

certainty. It is supposed that the goddess held in her hand either an apple, which was a symbol of the Isle of Melos,or the bronze ness. shield of Ares. Her looks

express proudandjoyousself-consciousIn the Venus of Capua(HO calledbecause found among the ruins of the Amphitheatre) she again appears as a victoriousgoddess (VenusVictrix). This

Fig. 17.-Venusof Louvre. Milo. The ghape the imde bodyis not 8Q ofvigorous or fresh as that of the Venus of Milo, but somewhat softand ill-defined.

statueis now in the Museumat Naples.

The Medicean Venus, formerly in the Villa Medici at Borne, is better known. It is a work of the later Attic school, in which, at the end of the second century B.C., Greek art once more blooms for a

The Gods of Olympus.

while. It is the work of the Athenian artist Cleo-

menes, though probably

chiselled in Koine. As

Venus Anadyomene (rising from, the sea) the goddessappears entirely

nude. This is the most

youthful in appearance of all her statues, and is distinguished by the perfectregularity and beauty of its form, though there is no trace of the lofty dignity of the goddess. " What a descent,'7saysKrausVenus

inof

hisMilo

Christianto this

Art, "is there from the coquette, whose apparently bashful posture is

only meant to challenge

the notice of the beholder."

The "Venus crouching

in the bath " of the Vati-

can collection, and the "Venus loosing her sandal" of the Munich

Gallery, are creations similar in style. In some

imitations of the Cnidian

Venus, the most important of which are in Borne

and Munich, the goddess

wearsa moredignified

Fig. l8.-Venus Genelrix Borghese. Villa

demeanour;and also in the wonderfully graceful Venus Genetrix of the Villa Borghese, Rome(Fig. 18). at The attributes of Venus vary much according to the prevailing conception the goddess. The dove,the sparrow,and the dolphin, of and amongplants the myrtle, the rose,the apple, the poppy, and thelime-tree, were sacred to her.

*>2

Greek and Roman Mythology. was the son of Zeus

8. Hermes (Mercurius).-Hermes

and Maia, a daughter of Atlas. He wasborn in a grotto of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, whence he is called Cyllenius. We know the stories of his youth chiefly from the so-calledHomeric Hymn. From this we learn how Hermes, soon after his birth, sprang from his mother's lap to seek the oxen of Apollo. Finding outside the cave a tortoise, he stretched strings acrossits shell, and thus made a lyre, to which he sung the loves of Zeus and Maia. Then hiding the lyre in his cradle, he went out to seek for food. Coming to Pieria in the evening, he stole thence fifty cows from the herds of Apollo, and drove them to the river Alpheiis. Here he slew two of them, and roasted the flesh, but could not swallow it. Then returning home in the early morning, he passedthrough the key-hole like the morning breeze,and lay down in his cradle. Apollo, however, soon remarked the theft, and hurried after the impudent robber. Hermes now

played the innocent,and obstinately deniedthe charge; but

Apollo was not to be deceived, and forced the young thief to accompany him to the throne of Zeus to have their quarrel

decided. Zeusordered Hermes restore cattle,but Apollo to the gladly made them over to Hermes on receiving the newlyinventedlyre. Thus Hermesbecame god of shepherds the andpastures,whilst Apollo henceforth zealously devoted himself tothe art of music.

As a token of their thorough reconciliation, Apollo gavehis brothergod the goldenCaduceus, magic wand, by means or of which hecouldbestow happiness whomsoever would; and on he henceforth both dwelt togetherin the utmostharmony love, andthe favourite sons of their father Zeus.

Various interpretations have been given of the nature of Hermes. Some have seen in him the thunderstorm, somethe dawn, aiid somethe morning breeze. The name Hermes, compared with the corresponding Indian words, seemsto make his

The Gods of Olympus.

63

connection with the morning certain. Several points in the legendjust related guide us to the breeze rather than the dawn; the invention of music, the kine carried off-which, nevertheless. he cannot eat (the wind cannot consume as fire does what it breaks down and carries off)-and the passing through the keyhole "like the morning breeze." So also his function of guide and conductor of the soul, which we shall speak of presently. The following are the most important features in the character of Hermes :-Not only does he promote the fruitfulness of flocks and herds, but he also bestows prosperity and successon all undertakings, especially those of trade and commerce. As the guardian of the streets and roads, and the friendly guide of those travelling on business, Hermes must have appeared especially worthy of honour among the Greeks, who were at all times sharp and greedy men of business. Accordingly, men erectedin his honour, on the roads, what were called Hermsc-mere blocks of stone, or posts, with one or more heads : these latter were at cross-roads, and also served as finger-posts. Honnse* were also often to be seenin the streets of towns and in public squares. Not only did Hermes protect and guide merchants whilst travelling, but he also endowed them with shrewdnessand cunning to outwit others. ' Arid as a god who had himself commenced his career by a dexterous theft, he was fain to allow thieves and

rogues invokehis protectionbeforeentering on their operato tions ; just as in the present day robbersand banditsin Italyor Greece see nothing strange in asking their patron saint to

bestowon them a rich prey. Every chance gain-in gambling,

for instance-and every fortunate discovery were attributed toHermes.

Though playing such an important part in human life, Hermes also appearsas the fleet messengerand dexterous agent of Zeus.* In this meaning, however,somehave derived the word from a different root, and supposed to mean originally only "pillars." it

64

Greekand Roman Mythology.

It is in this guisethat the epic poetslove to depicthim. With his golden-winged shoes passes he moreswiftly than the windover land and sea,executing the commissionsof his father Zeus or the other inhabitants of Olympus. Thus he is sent by Zeus to command the nymph Calypso to release Odysseus,and to warn ^Egisthus against the murder of Agamemnon. At times, difficult tasks are allotted to him; for instance, the destruction of the hundred-eyed guardian of lo, on which account Homer calls him the Argus-slayer. Doubtless in this myth the hundredeyed Argns represents the starry heavens; Argus is slain by Hermes, that is, in the morning the stars ceaseto be visible. As messengerand herald of the gods, he is a model for all earthly heralds, who, in ancient times, were the indispensable agents of kings in every difficult business. Hence lie bears the herald's staff, or caduceus. This is the samewand once given him by Apollo, consisting of three branches,one of which, forms the handle, whilst the other two branch off like a fork, and are joined in a knot. The origin of this herald's staff appears tohave been the olive branch wreathed with fillets of wool. It

was only at a later period that the two last were converted into serpents. By means of this wand Hermes can either induce deep sleep or rouse a slumberer, but he usesit chiefly in guiding

soulsto the infernalregions. This leadsus to speak the imof portant officeof Hermesas Fsychopompus, conductor the or of soul. Every soul, after death, commenced journey to the itsregion of shadows under the guidance of the god. On extraordinary occasions,where, for instance, the spirits were summoned in the oracles of the dead, Hermes had to reconduct the

As dreams comefrom the lowerworld, Hermeswasnaturally regarded the deity from whom they proceeded; which as on

The Godsof Olympus.

going to sleep.

65

accountpeople were wont to ask him for good dreams before Thehighestconception Hermes, of however, that of the god is who presidesover the bringing up of children; and, indeed, what god was more fitted to be presentedas an exampletoGrecian youth than the messenger the gods,equally dexterous of in mind and body 1 lie is the fleetest of runners and the most skilful of disc-throwers and boxers; and though he does not,

like Apollo, represent of the higher formsof intellectuallife, any still he possesses the highest degree in that practicalcommonsense which was so greatly valued among the Greeks. The wrestling school and the gymnasium were consequentlyregarded as his institutions, and adorned with his statues. In further

development his relationto the education the young,later of of poets evenmadehim the inventor of speech, the alphabet, ofand of the art of interpreting languages. The custom which

prevailedamong Greeksof offering him the tongues the the of

slaughteredanimals, shows clearly that they also consideredhim as the patron of eloquence. There is little to be said of the Roman Mercury. As his

name (from mercari, to trade) signifies,he was considered by

the Romans solely as god of trade. His worship was introduced at the sametime as that of Ceres-some years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, at a season of great scarcity-but

appears have become to confinedto the plebeians. The guild

of merchants regarded him as their tutelary deity, and offered

sacrifices him and his motherMaia on the Ides of May. to

The plastic representationof Hermes made equal progress with his ideal development. The first statuesof the god, founded on the ancient Hennasalreadymentioned, representedhim as a shepherd, sometimesas the herald and messenger th'i gods,always as a of powerful, bearded man. Later, lie assumed ir ore youthful appeara ance,and wasrepresented a beardless as youth in the vtTy prime of strength,with broadchest,lithe but powerful limbs, curly hair, and

66

Greekand Roman Mythology.

small ears, mouth, arid eyes; altogethera wonderful combination of graceand vigour. If we add to this the expressionof kindly benevolence which playsaroundhis finely-cut lips, and the inquiring look of his faceas he bendsforward thoughtfully, we have the principalcharacteristic features of the god.

Among existing statues, full-sized " Hermes at rest/' in bronze, a

j. 19.- Resting licraies.

Bronze Statue at Naples.

which wasfound at Herculaneum, is now in the NaplesMuseum, and is perhapsmostworthy of mention. He here appears the messenas ger of the gods,and hasjust sat down on a rock to rest. The winged sandalsform his only clothing, and these are,strictly speaking,not really sandals,but sLuply straps covering the foot, to which wings arefastened closeto the ankles (Fig. 19).

Fig. 20. -Statue of Hermes. Capitoline Collection.

68

Greekand Roman Mythology.

A splendid marble statue of the Vatican collection, which was oncetaken for Antinous, portrays the god as the patron of wrestling ;the Caducenswhich he holds in his left hand is, however, a modern addition. In the Hermes Ludovki of Borne we have a graceful repreas is often the case,but are fastened to a low round travelling-hat.

sentationof HermesLogins,the patron of the art of rhetoric. The wings are herenot placedon the leet,or even directly on the head, A pretty bronzestatuettein the British. Museum depicts Hermes as the god of trade and commerce, with a well-filled purse in hishand.

collection at Rome (Fig. 20). The principal attributes of the god have already been incidentally mentioned: they are wings on the feet, head,or cap ; the herald'sstaff, the votive bowl, and the purse.

Such is also the conception of a fine statue of the Capitoline

9. Hephaestus (Vulcan).-Hephaestus, the god of fire and the forge,-was commonly regarded a son of Zeusand Hera. asHe was so lame and ugly that his mother in shame cast him from heaven into the sea. But Eurynome and Thetis, the Oceanids,took pity on him, and tended him for nine years in a

deepgrotto of the sea,in return for which he made them many

ornaments. After being reconciled to his mother, lie returned

to Olympusunder the guidanceof Dionysus. According to

another not less popular account, it was not Ms mother who treated him so cruelly, but Zeus. Hephaestus,on the occasion

of a quarrelbetweenZeus and Hera,cameto the help of his

mother, whereupon the angry gocl of heaven seizedhim by the foot and hurled him from Olympus. The unfortunate Hephaestus fell for a whole day, but alighted at sundown on the isle of Lemnos with but little breath in his body. Here the Sintians, who inhabited the island, tended him till his recovery. Later writers say that it was from this fall that he became lame. The

same fundamental lies at the root of thesevariouslegends, idea

viz., that fire first came down from heaven in the form of lightning. Hephaestusoriginally represented the element of fire, and all the effects of fire are accordingly referred to him. The fires of the earth break forth from the open craters of vol-

canoes it must therefore Hephaestus is working in the " be who

The Godsof Olympus.

69

midst of the fiery mountain, where he has his forges and his smithies. So says the legend of Mount Mosychlus, in Lemnos, the chief seat of his worship. Scarcely less celebrated, from its connectionwith him, was Mount JEtna, in Sicily. After it was observedthat the wine was particularly good in the neighbour-

hoodof volcanicmountains, story of the intimatefriendship the

between Hephaestus and Dionysus was concocted. The most beneficial action of fire is manifested in its power to melt metals and render them useful to man in the shape of implements and tools of all kinds. Hence the conception of the character of Hephaestus tended ever more and more to represent him as the master of all ingenious working in nietals, and as the

patron of artificersand craftsmenusing fire. In this character

he was brought into closeconnection with the art-loving goddess Athene, and hence we see why both these divinities enjoyed so many kindred honours and had so many festivals in common at Athens, the chief seat of Greek science and art. It was also chiefly in the character of artificer that Hephaestus was treated of by the poets, who delight to describe the gorgeous brazen palace which he built himself on Olympus, in which was a huge workshop with twenty cunningly-devised pairs of bellows. He also constructed there the imperishable dwellings of the gods. Many also were the ingenious implements which he constructed, such as the walking tables, or tripods, which moved of their own accordinto the banqueting-chamber of the gods, and then returned to their places after the meal was over. He also made himself two golden statues of maidens, to assist him in walking, and bestowed on them speech and motion. Among the other works of his mentioned by the poets are the segisand sceptreof Zeus, the trident of Poseidon, the shield of Heracles, and the armour of Achilles, among which, also, was a shield of extraordinary beauty. The worship of Hephaestus was not verv extensive in Greece.

70

Greek and Roman Mythology.

The mostimportant seatof his worshipwasthe isle of Lemnos, wherehe wassupposed dwell on Mount Mosychlus to with hisworkmen, the Cabin,who answer to the

Cyclopesof ^Etna. He was held in great esteem at Athens, where,

at different festivals,torch races were held in

his honour. Young men ran with burning torches, and whoever first reached the goal with his torch alight received the prize. He was, moreover, highly veneratedby the Greeks in Campaniaand Sicily, a fact which may be easily explained by the fiery mountains of these places.The Romans called

this god Vulcanus, or, according to its more ancient spelling, Volcanus. They honoured in him the bl ssingsandbeneficial action of fire.

Fig. 21.-Heplu.stus. inthe Bronze Figure British ^^

Museum.

als SOUSbt his

protection against con-

flagrations. Under the influence of the Greek writers, the original and morecommon conception the god gaveplaceto of

The Gods of Olympus.

71

the popular imageof tlie smith-god,or Mulciber,who had his forgesin ^Etna,or on the Lipari Isles,and who vied with Mscomradesin wielding the hammer. In correspondence with the Greek myths, Venus was given him to wife; by this men doubt-

lesssoughtto conveythe ideathat truly artistic workscan only

be createdin harmony with beauty. The chief shrine of the god in Rome was the Volcanal, in the Comitiuin, which was not really a temple, but merely a covered

fire-place. In the Campus Martius, however,wasa real temple

close to the Flaminian Circus, where the festival of the Vol-

canalia was celebratedwith every kind of game on the 23rd day of August. Greek and Roman artists generally representedthis god as a powerful, hoardedman of full age. He is distinguished by the shortness his left leg, by the sharp,shrewdglanceof his cunning of eye, and his firm mouth. His attributes are the smith's tools, the pointed oval workman'scap,and the short upper garmentof thecraftsman or humble citizen.

With the exceptionof somesmall bronzesin London and Berlin, and a newly discovered marble bust of the Vatican collection, we possess antique statues of the god worth mentioning. The no engraving(Fig. 21) is from a bronzein the British Museum.

10. Hestia (Vesta).-It

must have beenat a comparatively

late period that Hestia, the daughter of Cronus and Ehea, attained a general veneration, as her name is not mentioned

either in the Iliad or Odyssey. Hestia is the guardianangel

of mankind, who guards the security of the dwelling, and is, in

consequence, regarded the goddess the family hearth,the as of centre domestic of life. Thehearthpossessed amongtheancients a far highersignificance than it doesin modernlife. It not onlyservedfor the preparation of meals, but was also esteemed the sacred altar of the house; there the images of the household gods were placed, and thither, after the old patriarchal fashion, the father and priest of the family offered sacrifice on aP t>*

72

Greekand Roman Mythology.

important occasionsof domestic life. No offering was made in which Hestia, the very centre of all domestic life, had not hershare.

And as the state is composedof families, the goddess of the domestic circle naturally becomesthe protectress of every political community. On this account,in Greek statesthe Prytaneum, or seat of the governing body, was dedicated to Hestia; there

shehad an altar, on which a lire waseverkept burning. From

this altar colonists, who were about to leave their native land in searchof new homes,always took some fire-a pleasing figurative indication of the moral ties between the colony and the mothercountry.

As the hearth-fire of the Prytaneum was an outward and

visiblesignto the members a state that they were one great of

family, so the Hestia of the temple at Delphi signified to the

Greeks their nationalconnection the unity of their worship. and

Her altar in this temple was placed in the hall before the cave

of the oracle; on it wasplaced the celebrated omphalus(navel of the earth,likewisean emblemof the goddess), Delphi being regarded the Greeks the centreof the wholeearth. Here, by astoo, a fire was kept ever burning in honour of Hestia. The character of the goddesswas as pure and untarnished as flame itself. Not only did she herself remain a virgin, though wooed

by both Poseidon Apollo, but her service and could be performed only by chastevirgins. She doesnot appearto have had a separate templeof her own in Greece, since shehad a placeinevery temple. The service of Yesta occupied a far more important place in the public life of the Romans. Her most ancient temple, which was supposed to have been built by Euma Pompilius, was situated on the slope of the Palatine opposite the Forum. It

wasbuilt in a circle,and was of moderate dimensions, being,

indeed, little more than a covered fire-place. In it the eternal

The Godsof Olympus.

73

fire, a symbol of the life of the state, was kept "burning. Here, too, the service was performed by virgins, whose number was at first four, but was afterwards increased to six.. Their chief occupationwas to maintain the sacredfire, and to offer up daily

prayers the altar of the goddess the welfare of the Roman at for people. The extinction of the sacredflame was esteemed anomen of coming misfortune, and brought severe punishment on the negligent priestess. The choice of vestals lay with the Pontifex Maximus. They were chosenbetween the agesof six and ten years, always ont of the best Roman families. For thirty years they remained bound to their sacred office, during which time they had to preserve the strictest chastity. After the lapse of thirty years they returned to civil life, and were

permittedto marry if they liked.

Another sanctuary of Yesta existed in Lavinium, the metropolis of the Latins, where the Roman consuls, after entering on their office, had to perform a solemn sacrifice. The festival of Vesta was celebrated on the 9th of June, on which occasionthe Roman women were wont to make a pilgrimage barefooted to the temple of the goddess, and place before her offerings offood.

In the domestic life of the Romans the hearth and the hearth-

goddess Vesta occupied important a position as amongthe as

Greeks. The worship of Vesta is closely connected with that

of the Penates, kindly, protecting,household the gods,who provided for the daily wants of life, and about whom we shall have more to say before concluding the subject of the gods. Agreeablyto the chaste, pure characterof the goddess, could she only berepresented art with an expressionof the strictest moral in purity; she generally appearseither sitting or standing,her countenancecharacterised a thoughtful gravity of expression. Her by principal attributes consistof the votive bowl, the torch, the simpulum, or small cup, which was used in making libations, and the sceptre. In consequence the dignity and sanctity of her character, of

Greek and Roman Mythology.

she was always represented as fully clothed, which may account for the fact that the

ancients had so few statues of

the goddess. We may, therefore, consider it fortunate that such a splendid example as the Vesta Giustiniani, which belongs to the private collection of Prince Torlonia, at Koine, has come down to list

It is supposed hean original to

work of the best period of Greek art. The goddess is represented as standing in a calm posture, her right hand pressed against her side, whilst with the left she points significantly towards heaven, as

though wishing to impresson

mankind where to direct their

prayersand thoughts(Fig. 22). 11. Janus.-Among the most important gods of theRomans was the celebrated

Janus,a deity quite unknown to the Greeks. In his original

characterhe was probably

a god of the light and sunthe male counterpart,in fact, of Jana, or Diana, and thus very similar to the Greek Apollo. As long as he maintained this original character, derived from nature, he was regarded as the god of all

Fig. 22.-Vt-sta Giustiuiani. TorUmia germsand first beginnings,

Collection. and possessed, in conse-

The Gods of Olympus.

75

quence, important influenceboth on the public and private an

life of the Romans. .We must confine ourselves to mentioning someof the most important traits resulting from this view of his character. First, Janus is the god of all beginnings of time. He begins the new year, whose first month was called January after him, and was dedicated to him. Thus, New Year's Day

(Kale?idce JanuariceJ the most importantfestivalof thegod; was

on this occasionthe housesand doors were adornedwith garlands and laurel boughs, the laurel being supposedto exercisea potent influence against all magic and diseases. Eelatives and friends exchangedsmall presents (principally sweets; for example, dates and figs wrapped in laurel leaves) and good wishes for the coming year. The god himself received offerings of cake, wine, and incense, and his statue was adorned with fresh laurel boughs. This offering was repeated on the first day of every month, for

Janusopened everymonth; and asthe Kalendsweresacred up

to Juno, he was therefore called Junonius. In the same way Janus was supposedto begin every new day, and called Matutinus Pater. He also appears as the doorkeeper of heaven, whose gates he opened in the morning and closed in the evening. From being the god of all temporal beginnings, he soon became the patron and protector of all the beginnings of human activity. The Eomans had a most superstitious belief in the importance of a good commencement everything, concluding that this had for

a magicalinfluenceon the goodor evil result of everyundertaking. Thus, neither in public nor private life did they ever undertake anything of importance without first confiding the beginning to the protection of Janus. Among the most important events of political life was the departure of the youth of the country to war. An offering was therefore made to the god

by the departinggeneral,and the temple,or coveredpassage

sacredto the god, was left open during the continuance of the

76

Greek and Roman Mythology.

war, as a sign that the god had departed with the troops and had them under his protection. The consul never neglected, when he entered on his office, to ask the blessing of Janus, and the assemblies never "began their consultations without invoking Janus. In the sameway the private citizen, in all important occurrencesand undertakings, sought by prayers and vows to acquire the favour of Janus. The husbandman, before he commencedeither to sow or to reap, brought to Janus Consivius an offering of cake and wine. The merchant, when he entered on a

journeyof business, the sailor,whenhe weighed and anchorand

started on a long and dangerousvoyage, never omitted to invoke the blessing of the god. This view of the god also explains the custom of calling on Janus first in every prayer and at every sacrifice,since, as keeper of the gatesof heaven,he also appeared to give admittance to the prayers of men. As the god of all first beginnings, Janus is also the source of all springs, rivers, and streams of the earth. On this account the fountain nymphs were generally looked on as his wives, andFontus and Tiberinus as his sons.

The power of Janus in causing springs to rise suddenly from the earth was experienced, to their cost, by the Sabiucs. The latter, in consequence the rape of their women, had overof run the infant state of Rome, and were about to introduce themselvesinto the town on the Palatine through an open gate,

whenthey suddenly found themselves drenched a hot sulphur by springthat gushed violently from the earth,and were obligedtoretire.

In the legend alluded to, Janus appearsas the protector of the gates of the city. As the god who presided over the fortunate entrance to and exit from all houses,streets, and towns, Janus was held in high honour among the people. His character as

guardianof gatesand doorsbrought him into closeconnection

with the Penates and other household gods; hence the custom

The Gods of Olympus.

11

of erecting overthe doorsan image of the deity with the wellknown two faces, one of which looked out and the other in. Janus had no temple, in the proper sense of the word, at Eome. His shrines consisted of gatewaysin common places of resort and at cross-roads,or of arched passages,in which the

imageof the god was erected. The Temple of Janus in the

Forum at Rome, which has been already alluded to, was a sanc-

tuary of this kind closedwith doors, and was probahly the

most ancient in the city.war.

Its doors stood open only in time of

Romanart never succeeded executing a ] Masticrepresentation in peculiar to Janus,the double head being only an imitation of the Greek double Hennas. In. courseof time entire figures of Janus appeared, thesealwayshad a doubleface. They were generally but bearded, in later times one facewasbearded,the other youthful. but Not one specimen theseworks of art has beenpreserved, that of so we only know these forms from coins. The usual attributes of Januswere keys and staff.

12. Quirinus.-Quirinus wasalsoa purely Romandivinity,

but having beenreckoned among the great deities of heaven, he

must thereforebe mentioned here. In his symbolicmeaning

he bore a great resemblance to Mars; and as Mars was the national god of the Latin population of Rome, so Quirinus was the national god of the Sabines who came to Rome with Titus Tatius. Together with Jupiter and Mars, he formed the tutelary Trinity of the Roman empire. His shrine was on the Quirinal, which was originally inhabited by the Sabines, and which was named after him. lXruma gave Quirinus a priest of his own. He had a specialfeast on the 17th of February, but his worship appearsto have assimilated itself more and more to that of Mars. He was subsequentlyidentified with Romulus.

Greek and 'Eoman Mythology,

B.-SECONDARY DEITIES.

1. Attendant and Ministering Deities.

1. Eros (Amor).-Of the deitieswho appear the train of in Aphrodite,Eros alone seems have enjoyed divine honours; to Longing and Desire being no more than allegorical figures typifying some the influences of that emanate from the goddessof lof e. Eros was commonly reputed the son of Aphrodite and Ares, and was generally depicted as a boy of wondrous beauty,

on the verge youth. His characteristic of weaponis a golden

bow, with which he shoots forth his arrows from secret

lurking-places,with an unfailing effect that representsthe

sweet but con-

suming pangs oflove. Zeus him-

self is representedas unable to withstand his influence -an that of the intimation love is one termost

rible and mighty

forces of nature.

As unrequited

love is aimless,Anteros was con-

Fig.2&-Hcad Eros. Vatican. of

ceived by the imagination of the poets as the brother and com-

panionof Eros,and consequently son of Aphrodite. As the a

little Eros, says the myth, would neither grow nor thrive, his mother, by the advice of Themis, gave him this brother as a

The Gf-ods Olympm. of

79

playfellow; after which the boy wasglad so long ashis brother

was with him, but sad in his absence. Eros was not only venerated as the god who kindles love between the sexes,but was also regarded as the author of love and friendship between youths and men. On this account his statue was generally placed in the gymnasia between those of Hermes and Heracles; and the Spartans sacrificedto him before

battle,binding themselves hold togetherfaithfully in battle, to

and to stand by one another in the hour of need.

This deity was termedby the Romans Amor, or Cupido,but

this was solely in imitation of the Greek Eros, since he never enjoyed among them

any public veneration.

The significant fable of the love of Cupid for Psyche, a

/Q x>--^

L-~ I

personification thehuman of

soul,is of comparatively ^^^^X \ lateorigin, though was it a \^V~~^_

very favourite subject in art. Artists followed poets tlie inthe delineation of Eros, in so

far as they generallydepicted

him as a boy on the confines

of youth. An Eros by the renowned artist Praxiteles was esteemed one of the best works

of antiquity. It wasbrought to Romeby Nero,but wasdestroyedby fire in the reign of Titus. In later timesthe godof love was represented as much younger, because the mischievous pranks attributed to him by the poets were more adapted to the age of childhood.

Fig. 24.-Erostryingbh Bow. Capitollue

Museum,

80

Greek and Roman Mythology.

A considerable number of statues or statuettes of Eros have come

down to us from antiquity. Among the most celebrated the Torso is

(mutilated statue) theVatican, the glorious of of headof which we give an engraving (Fig. 23). Thereis alsoan "Eros trying his bow" (Fig/24) in the Capitoline Museum Rome, an "Eros at and playing with dice" in the Berlin Museum. Lastly,thereis thecelebrated group of the Capitoline Museum, which represents the embraces of Cupid and Psyche. Eros generally appears with wings in the art monuments of antiquity. His inin addition to a burningtorch. The rose was held

signia are bow and arrows,

especially sacredto him, for

which reasonhe often appears crowned with roses.

In connection with Venus

and in company with Amor we find Hymenajus, a person!li cation of the joys of marriage, who was, however, only recognised by later writers and by later

art.

He is portrayed as

a beautiful youth, winged like Eros, bxit taller, and of a more seriousaspect. His indispensable attribute is the marriage torch.2. Tlie Muses.-Pin-

dar gives the following account of the origin of

the Muses. After the

defeat of the Titans, the celestials besought Zeus to createsomebeings who

Fig. 25.-Polyhymnia. Museum, might perpetuate SOng Bovliu ill the mighty deedsof the gods. In answer to this prayer,

The Gods of Olympus.

81

Zeus"begot with Mnemosyne (Memory)the nine Muses. They sing of the present, past, and the future, while Apollo's lute theaccompanies their sweet strains, which gladden the hearts of the gods as they sit assemhled in the lofty palaceof Father Zeus, in Olympus.. Lookedat in connection but that with the

nature, there is little

douht

Muses were originally nymphs of the fountains. The veneration of the Muses first arose

in Pieria, a district on the easterndeclivity of Mount Olympus in Thessaly, from whose steepand rocky heights a number of sweet rippling brooks descend to the plains. The per ception of this naturalmusic led at once to a belief in the existence of

such song-loving goddesses. Their seat was

subsequentlyferred from the

transde-

clivities of Olympusto Mount Helicon in

Or tO Mount

IMJ. Melpouieuo."Vatiean. 20.-

Parnassus,at the foot of which the Castalian fountain, which

82

Greek an$ Roman Mythology.

Originally the Muses were

was sacredto them, had its source.

jniy goddesses song,though they are sometimes of represented

with instruments on vases. In early times, too, they only

appearas a chorusor company, at a later period separate "but functionswereassigned each, presidingover this or that to asbranch of art. Their

names were Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore,Polyhymnia, Thalia, Urania, Euterpe, Erato, and Calliope.According to the artdistribution made, probabty, at the time of the Alexandrine school, Calliope represents epic poetry and science generally, her attributes being a roll of parchment and a pen. Clio is the rmise of history, andisit

likewiseis sometimes

characteriseddifficult to

by a roll and pen, so that distinguishher from Calliope. Euterpe represents lyric poetry, and is distinguished by her double

flute. Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, generally appears with a tragic mask, a club or sword, and a garland of vine leaves. Terpsichore is the muse of

dancing, and has a lyre

and plectrum. To Erato

is assignederotic poetry,

Fig. 27.-EnterPe. Vatican.

together _ geometry with and the mimic art; she

generally bears a large stringed instrument. Thalia, the muse of comedy,is distinguished by a comic mask, an ivy garland, and a

The Godsof Olympus.

&$

crook. Polyhymnia presides over the graver chant of religious

service ; she may be recognised by her dress, wrapped closely round

her, and her grave,thoughtful countenance, is without attribute but of any kind. Lastly, Urania,,the muse of astronomy,holds in onehand a celestial globe, and in the other a small wand. Several European museums possess ancient groups of the Muses,

amongwhich, perhaps, the finest is that preservedin the Vatican.

From this group are copied our engravings of Melpomene andin the Berlin Museum.

Euterpe (Figs. 26 and 27). The original of Polyhymnia (Fig. 25) is The Romans venerateda number of fountain-nymphs of song and prophecy under the name of Caniense,among whom the Egeria of the history of ISTuma well known. The Eoman is writers seemto have identified these goddesses with the Muses at pleasure. 3. The Charites (Gratise).-The Charites generally appear in the train of the goddessof love, whom it was their duty to clothe and adorn. They are often found, however, in attendance on other gods, since all that is charming and graceful, either to the senses or the intellect, was supposed to proceed fromthem.

Their namesare Agla'ia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. They were commonly representedas tlie daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, the Oceanid. Later writers, however, make them the daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite. They were veneratedas the source of all that makeshuman life more beautiful and pleasant, without whom there could he no real enjoyment of life. Thus, even the gods would not sit down to banquets without the Charites; and whenever men cametogether to feast, the}7" first called on them and offered them the first bowl. Music, eloquence, art, and poetry received the higher consecration only at their hands; whence Pindar terms his songs a gift from them. Wisdom, bravery, kindly benevolence, and gratitude-in fine, all those

qualities which becomemen most, and make them agreeable

8^the Charites.

Greekand RomanMythology.

in the eyes tlieir fellow-men, of weresupposed proceed to from

The Graces of the Bomans were simply transferred from the mythology of the Greeks, and have, therefore, the samemeaningas the Charites.

Art represented the Charites or Gracesas blooming maidens,of slender,comelyform, characterised an expression joyous innoby of cence. In their hands they often hold flowers, either roses ormyrtles. They aie less often distinguished by definite attributes

than by a mutual intertwining of arms. In earlier Greek art they always appearfully clothed; but gradually their clothing became less and less, until at length, in the age of Scopas and Praxiteles,when nude figures had become common, it entirely disappeared. There are, however, few ancient statues of the Charites in existence.

4. Themis

and the Horae (Seasons).-In

intimate con-

nectionwith the Charites find the Horse, daughters we the of

Zeus and Themis. They were generally represented as three in number-Eunomia, Dice, and Irene. They represent the regular march of nature in the changes of the seasons,and Themis, who personifies the eternal laws of nature, and as the daughter of Uranus and Gaearanks among the most ancient

deities,is consequently their mother. Themisis the representative of the reign of law among gods and men; at Zeus' command she calls together the assembliesof the gods. She

also occupiesa similar position on earth, as presiding over nationalassemblies the laws of hospitality. Her daughters, andthe Horse, appear in a similar though in a subordinate and attendant character. In Homer they figure as the servants of

Zeus, who watch the gatesof heaven,now closingthem with thick clouds,now clearingthe cloudsaway. They also appearas the servantsand attendants of other divinities, such as Hera,

Aphrodite, Apollo, and the Muses. Like their mother, they

preside over all law and order in human affairs; and under their protection thrives all that is noble and beautiful and good.

The Gods of Olympus.

85

We know but little concerningthe worship of the Horas

among the Greeks. The Athenians celebrated a special festival in their honour, but they recognisedonly two-Thallo, the season of blossom, and Carpo, the seasonof the ripened fruit. The adoption of four Horse, correspondingto the four seasonsof the year, appearsto have arisen at a later period. In plastic art Themis is generally represented with a balance in one hand and a palm branch in the other. The Horsegenerally appearas lovely girls dancing with their garments tucked up, and adornedwith flowers,fruit, and garlands. Subsequently they were

Fig. 28.-The

Horse.

Relief from the Villa Albani.

distinguishedby various attributes, typical of the different seasons. Such is the casein the engraving (Pig. 28), after a relief in theVilla Albani.

5. Nice (Victoria).-Nice

is nothing but a personification

of the irresistible and invincible power exercised by the god of heaven by means of his lightning. She also appears in the

companyof Pallas Athene,who was herself honouredby the

Athenians as the goddess of victory. Victory does not seem to have had many separatetemples or festivals, since she gener-

ally appears in attendance her superior only on deities.

Far more extensive was the veneration of Victoria at Koine, a fact for which the warlike character of the people easily accounts. Her chief shrine was on the Capitol, where successful

generals werewont to erect statuesof the goddess rememin

brance of their exploits. The most magnificent statue of this kind was one erected by Augustus in fulfilment of a vow after

,Royal Collection at Munich (Fig. 29).

the goddess, whilst

a fine alto-relievo in terra-cotta exists in the

6. Iris.-Iris was originally a personification of the rainbow, but she was afterwards converted into the swift messenger the of gods,the rainbow being, as it were, a bridge between earth and heaven. In this character she makes her appearance Homer, in but, later still, she was again transformed into a special attendant of Hera. Her swiftness was astounding; " Like hail or snow,"

The Cfods Olympus. of

87

saysHomer," that falls from the clouds," she darts from oneend of the world to the other-nay, dives to the hidden depths of the ocean and into the recesses the lower world, executing of the commandsof the gods. In art Iris wasrepresented with wings, like Nice, to whom she,in manyrespects, "bears strongresemblance.Shemaybe distinguished a from the latter, however,by her herald's staff (Caduceus). A very much injured specimen, from the eastpediment of the Parthenon at Athens,is now preserved the British Museum. in

7. Hebe (Juventas).-Hebe was the daughterof Zeusand

Hera, and, according to her natural interpretation, represented the youthful bloom of Nature. In the fully developed mythology of the Greeksshe appearsas the cupbearer of the gods, to whom, at meals, shepresents the sweet nectar. It may at first seemstrangethat the daughter of the greatest of the divinities of Greece should be relegated to so inferior a position. This, however, is easily explained by the old patriarchal custom of the Greeks, by which the young unmarried daughters, even in royal palaces,waited at table on the men of the family and the guests.

In post-Homeric poetryand legend Hebe no longer appears as cupbearer the gods, the office having been assigned of toGanymedes. This was either in consequence the promotion of of

the son the King of Troy, or on account Hebe's of of marriage with

the deified Heracles.

Hebe occupies no important place in the religious system of the Greeks; she seems to have been chiefly honoured in connection with her mother Hera, or now and then withHeracles.

Juventas,or Juventus,is the corresponding deity of the Romans;but, as was the case with so many others,they contrived to bring her into a more intimate connection with their political life by honouring in her the undying and unfading

88

Greek and Roman Mythology

vigour of the state. She had a separatechapel in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. "Withregardto the artistic representation Hebe, ofstatues of this goddess

appearto have beenvery

rare in ancient times ; at least, among all the numerous statues that have been

discovered, none can be

sa identifiedwith Hebe. fely

She is the more often met with on ornamental vases

and reliefs, on which the marriage of Heracles and Hebe is a favourite subject.

She is usually depicted as

a highly-graceful, modest maiden;pouring out nectar from an upraised vessel.

She appearsthus in the

world-renowned master-

pieceof the Italian sculptor Canova, so well known

from casts. In default of

an ancient statue, we give an engraving of this work (Fig. 30).

8. Ganymedes.-A similar office in Olympus was filled by the son of

Tros,the King of Troy,

Ganymedes, who was

Fig. 30.-Hebe. Antonio From Canova. made immortal ZeilS, by

and installed as cupbearerof the gods. Neither Homer nor

Pindar, however, theepisode Zeus relate of sending eaglo his

to-carry Ganymedes. feature the story,whichis a off This of

The Gods of Olympus.

89

favourite subject of artistic representation, is first found in Apollodorus. The Eoman poet, Ovid, then went a step farther,

and madethe ruler of Olympustransformhimself into an eagle,

in order to carry off his favourite. The rape of the beautiful boy is often portrayed in ancient art. The most famousmonumentis a bronzegroup of Leochares, artist an who flourishedin the fourth century B.C. A copy of it still existsinthe celebrated statue of Ganymedes in the Vatican collection. In

Fig. 31.- Ganymedcs and the Eagle.

From Tliorwaldsen.

modernart the story has been treatedwith still greater frequency. There is an extremelybeautiful group of this kind by Thorwaldsen, in which Ganymedes represented giving the eagledrink out of is asa bowl (Fig, 31). 2. The Phenomena of the Heavens.

1. Helios (Sol).-Helios (Latin Sol), the sun-god,"belongs

to that small classof deities who have preserved their physical

90

Greek and Roman Mythology.

meaning intact. His worship was confined to a few places, the most important of which was the island of Ehodes. An annual festival, attended with musical and athletic contests,was here celehratedwith great pomp in honour of the sun-god. He is portrayed by the poets as a handsomeyouth with flashing eyes and shining hair coveredwith a golden helmet. His daily office was to "bring the light of day to gods and men, which he performed hy rising from Oceanusin the east,where the Ethiopians live, and completing his coursealong the firmament. For this purpose the post-Homeric poets endow him with a sun-chariot drawn by four fiery horses; and though Homer and Hesiod do not attempt to explain how he passedfrom the west where he sets, to the east where he rises, later poets obviate the difficulty by making him sail round half the world in a golden boat (according to others a golden bed); and thus he was supposed again to arrive at the east. In the far west Helios had a splendid palace,and also a celebrated garden, which was under the charge of the Hesperides. He is describedas the son of the Titans Hyperion and Thea, whence he himself is called a Titan. By his wife Perse,a daughter of Oceanus,he becamethe father of ^Eetes, King cf Colchis, celebrated in the legend of the Argonauts, and of the still more celebrated sorceressCirce.

Another son of Helios was Phaethon,who, in attempting to

drive his father's horses, cameto an untimely end. Helios seesand hears everything; whence he was believed to bring hidden crimes to light, and was invoked as a witness atall solemn declarations and oaths.

All the stories relating to Helios were gradually transferred to

the RomanSol, who was originally a Sabinedeity, chiefly by

means of the Metamorphosesof Ovid. The untiring charioteer of t'te heavens was also honoured as the patron of the race-

course.;but he neverattaineda prominentpositionin religious

worship;..

The Godsof Olympus.

91

Helios, or Sol, is depictedas a handsome youth, his head encircled by a crown,which givesforth twelve "brightrays corresponding the to number of the months,his mantle flying about his shouldersas he standsin his chariot. It waschiefly in Rhodes,however,that Helioswas made the subject of the sculptor's art.erected in his honour the celebrated colossal

Here, in 280 B.C., was

statue which has

acquireda world-wide celebrity under the name of the Colossusof

Rhodes, and which was reckoned as one of the seven "wonders of the world." It was the work of Chares of Lindus, and was 105 feet

in height.

2. Selene (Luna).-As

Artemisis the twin sisterof Apollo,

so is Selenethe twin sister of Helios; lie representing the sun, she the moon. Selene, however, never really enjoyed divine honours in Greece. The poets depict her as a white-armed goddess,whose beautiful tresses are crowned with a "brilliant diadem. In the evening she rises from the sacred river of Oceanus,and pursuesher course along the firmament of heaven in her chariot drawn by two white horses. She is gentle and timid, and it is only in secret that she loves beautiful youths and kisses-them in sleep. Poets delight to sing of the secret love she cherished for the beautiful Endymion, the son of the King of Elis. She causedhim to fall into an eternal sleep, and he now reposes a rocky grotto on Mount Latmus, where Selene in nightly visits him, and gazeswith rapture on his countenance. In later times she was often confoundedwith Artemis, Hecate, and Persephone. The sameremarks apply to the Roman Luna.

The latter, however, a temple of her own on the Aventine, had

which was supposedto have been dedicated to her by Servius Tullius. Like her brother Sol, she was honoured in Home in connection with the circus, and was' held to preside over the public games. In sculpture,Selene,or Luna, may be recognised the half moon by on her forehead, and by the veil over the back of her head; she also bearsin her hand a torch. The sleepingEndymion was a frequent subjectof representation sarcophagi monuments. on and

92

Greek and Roman Mythology.

3. Eos (Aurora).-Eos, the goddess the dawn,wasalsoa of

daughter of Hyperion and Thea, and a sister of Selene and Helios. She was first married to the Titan Astrseus, whom she by becamethe mother of the winds-Boreas, Zephyrus, Eurus, and JSTotus (north, west, east, and south winds). This is a mythological mode of intimating the fact that the wind generally rises at dawn. After Astrseus, who, like most of the Titans, had rebelled against the sovereignty of Zeus, and had been cast into Tartarus, Eos chosethe handsomehunter Orion for her husband. The gods, however, would not consent to their union, and Orion was slain by the arrows of Artemis, after which Eos married Tithonus, the son of the King of Troy. She begged Zeus to bestow on him immortality, but, having forgotten to ask for eternal youth, the gift was of doubtful value, since Tithonus at last became a shrivelled-up, decrepid old man, in whom the goddesstook no pleasure. Memnon, King of ^Ethiopia, celebrated in the story of the Trojan war, was a son of Eos and Tithonus. He came to the assistanceof Troy, and was slain by Achilles. Since then, Eos has wept without ceasingfor her darling son, and her tears fall to the earth in the shape of dew. Eos is represented by the poets as a glorious goddess,with beautiful hair, rosy arms and fingers-a true picture of the in-

vigoratingfreshness the early morning. Cheerfuland active, of

she rises early from her couch, and, enveloped in a saffroncoloured mantle, she harnesses horsesLampus and Fliaethon her

(Brightnessand Lustre),in order that she may hastenon m

front of the sun-god and announce the day.

The viewsand fablesconnected with Eoswere transferred by

the Roman writers to the person of their goddess Aurora* without undergoing any alteration.* The Mater Matuta of the Romanswas a deity very similar to the Eos of the Greeks. She was the goddessof the early dawn, and was held in

" The Godsof Olympus.

93

Representationsthis goddess foundnow andthen onvases of are andgems. Sheeitherappears drivinga chariotand four horses, as harnessing steeds Helios,or as gliding through the air on the of wingsandsprinkling earthwith her dew. the4. The Stars.-Only a few of the stars are of any im-

portance mythology. Phosphorus Hesperus, morning in and the star and the evening star, which were formerly regarded two as distinct beings, wererepresented art in the guiseof beautiful in boys with, torchesin their hands. There were also several legends relatingto Orion,whom we have alreadyalluded to asthe husband of Eos. He himself was made a constellation after

having beenslain by the arrowsof Artemis, while his clogwas

Sirius, whose rising announces the hottest seasonof the year. All kinds of myths were invented about other constellations;

among others, Hyades,whoserising betokened advent of the the the stormy*rainy season, during which the sailor avoidsgoingto sea. The story went that they were placed among the constellations by the gods out of pity, becausethey were inconsolable at the death of their brother Hyas, who was killed by a lion whilst hunting. Connected with them are the Pleiades, i.e., the stars of mariners, so called because on their rising in May the favourable season voyages begins. They were seven for in number, and were likewise set in the heavens by the gods. Finally, we must not forget to mention Arctus, the Bear.Tradition asserted that this was none other than the Arcadian

nymph Callisto, who had been placed among the constellations by Zeus when slain in the form of a she-bearby Artemis. Sho had broken her vows of chastity, and borne a son, Areas, to Zeus.

5. The Winds.-The four chief winds have been already alludedto as the sonsof Eos. They were especially veneratedhigh estimation amongthe Roman womenas a deity who assistedtlicra in childbirth. Like the Greek Leucothea,shewas also regardedas a goddess of the seaand harbours,who assistedthose in peril.

94

Crre.dk and Roman Mythology.

by thoseaboutto makevoyages, then solicitedtheir favour who with prayersand offerings. Otherwise, they maintainedtheir character purenatural forces, of and were,consequently, little of importancein mythology. The rude north wind, Boreas,or Aqnuilo, was especiallydreaded on acccountof his stormyviolence, and was hence regarded as a bold ravisher of maidens.

Thus an Attic legendasserts that he carried off Orithyia, the

daughter of Erechtheus, as she was playing on the banks of the Ilissus. She bore him Calais and Zetes, well known in the story of the Argonauts. Boreas,however, stood in high favour among the Athenians, who erectedan altar and chapel to him, because,during the Persian war, he had partially destroyed the fleet of Xerxes off Cape Sepias. As Boreasis the god of the winter storm, so Zephyrus appears as the welcome messengerof Spring; on which account one of the Horsewas given him to wife. Zephyrus was called Favonius by the Romans,to intimate the favourable influence he exercised on the prosperousgrowth of the vegetableworld. These, together with the other chief winds, ISTotus (south wind) and Eurus (eastwind) were sometimes said to reside in separate places; at other times they were said to dwell together in the Wind-mountain, on the fabulous island of ^Eolia, where

they wereruled over by King

3. Gods of Birth and Healing.

1. Asclepius (^sculapius). - It was only in later times that the necessity having specialgods of birth and healing of made itself felt ; at all events, Asclepius, ^Esculapius, he is or as calledby the Eomans, doesnot appear a god in Homer. The as worship of this deity, who was said to be the son of Apollo, appears haveoriginatedin Epidaurus, seatof his principal to the shrine, and thence to have becomegenerally diffused. .In*Epidaurus his priests erected a large hospital, which enjoyed a

The Godsof Olympus.

great reputation. Thecommon method of cure consisted in allow-

95

ing thosewho were sick to sleep in the temple, on which occasion, if they had beenzealous in their prayers and offerings, the god appearedto them discovered in a dream the and neces-

sary remedy. The worship of this deity was introduced into Rome in the year 291 B.a, in consequence of a severe pestilence which for years had depopulated town and country. The Sibylline books were consulted, and they recommended that Asclepius of Epidaurns should be

brought to Rome. The story goes that the sacred serpent of the god followed the Roman ambassadors of its own

accord, and chose for

its abode the Insula

Tiberina at Rome, where a temple was at

Fig.82.-Asclepius. Berlin.

96

Greek and Roman Mythology.

onceerected ^Esculapius. A gilded statuewasaddedto the to temple in the year 13 B.C. The method alreadymentioned of sleeping the templewasalsoadopted in here. In art, Asclepius represented a bearded is as man of ripe years, with singularly noble Features,of awhich the kindly benevolence from benefactor of mankind looksforth. He is generally accompanied by a serpent, as a symbol of

self-renovating vital power,which

he is feeding and caressing, or

which is more commonlyrepresented as creeping up his staff. Such is the conception in theengraving (Fig. 32), which is after a statue preserved at Berlin. Asother attributes-a bowl contain-

the god of healing, he has also ing the healing draught,a bunchof herbs, a pine-apple, or a clog;watches disease. There are numerous

the latter being a symbol of the vigilancewith which the physician

extant stat-

ues of the god, although the great

statue in gold and ivory of the

templeat Epidaurus has beenentirely lost. A fine head of colossal

Fig. 33.-Head Asolepius. of British proportionswas discovered the on

Museum. a very fine statue without a head in existence at Athens, near the

Isle of Melos, and is now an orna-

ment of the British Museum(Fig. 33). There is, on the other hand, templeof Zeus. There are,moreover,celebrated statuesin Florence, Paris,and Borne(Vatican); in the last case, a beardless of JEsculapius. 2. Inferior Deities of Birth and Healing.-The Greeks

alsohonoured Ilithyia as a goddess birth. This appears of to

have been originally a surname of Hera, as a deity who succoured women in childbirth. Hygica was looked on as a

goddess health,and wasdescribed a daughter Asclepius. of as of The Romans had no needof a specialgoddess presidingoverbirth, although they honoured a deity often identified with

The Gods of Olympus.

97

Hygiea, whomthey calledStreiiia,or Salus. As guardian of

the chamber birth, they honoured of Carna,or Cardea, who was

supposeddriveaway evil Striges to the (screech thatcame owls)

at night to suck the blood of the new-born child. Carna was

further regarded the protectress physicalhealth. Another as of

of these inferiordeities, whom, sought life andconof men long

98year).

Greekand Ilom.au Mythology.

tinned health, bore the name of Anna Perenna(the circling

4. Deities of Fate.

1. Moerse(Parcee).-The Mccrse, better known by the Latin

name of Parcse,really denote that portion of a man's life and fortune which is determined from his birth; so that, in this sense,there are as many Mccrseas individuals. The Greeks, however, who were wont to revere all such indefinite numbers

under the sacrednumber three, generally recognisedthree. These theyregarded the dark and inexplicable as powers fate, of daughters the night. Their nameswere Clotlio (spinner), of Lacliesis (allott-or), Atropos(inevitable). and Only two Parcoe were originally known to the Romans, but a third wasafterwards addedto maketheir own mythologyharmonise with that of the Greeks.

The popular conceptionof the Parcae gravehoary womenwas as not followed in art, where they alwaysappearas young. In the first

instance, their attributes wereall alike, separate functions yet not

having beenallotted to them. But at a subsequentperiod it was Clotho who spun,Lacliesis who held, and Atroposwho cut the thread of life. This arrangementwas first adopted by later artists, who generally give Clotho a spindle,Lacliesis a roll of parchment,and Atroposa balance, let the last point to the hour of death on a dial. orSuch is the casein a talented creation of Carstens, in which the con-

ceptionof moderntimes is brought into harmony with the ideal of antiquity (Fig. 34).

2. Nemesis, Tyche (Fortuna), and Agathodsemon (Bonus Eventus).-Nemesis reallydenotes apportionment theof that fate which is justly deserved,and a consequent repugnance to that which is not. Homer does not acknowledge Nemesis as a goddess,and so it is probable that her claim to

public veneration datesfrom a later period. Shewas regarded

as a goddessof equality, who watches over the equilibrium of the moral universe, and seesthat happiness and misfortune are allotted to man accordingto merit. Hence arose,subsequently,

The Gods of Olympus.

99

the idea of an avengingdeity, who visits with condignpunishment the crimes and wickedness of mankind. In this character she resembles the Furies. The Romans likewise introduced

Nemesis into their system; at least her statue stood on the

Capitol,thoughpopular superstitionnever regarded with a her

friendly eye. of art. The kindly, gentle goddess, who dispenses what is just, is depictedas a young woman of grave and thoughtful aspect, holding in her hand the instruments of measurementand control (cubit, bridle, and rudder). As the stern avenger of human crimes, slie appears with wings in a chariot drawn by griffins, with a sword or whip in her hand.

Thevarious conceptions Nemesis againdisplayed works of are in

Tyche, the goddessof good fortune, was, according to common

accounts, daughter Oceanus Tethys. Shewasusually the of and

honoured as the tutelary deity of towns, and as such,had temples and statues in many populous cities of Greece and Asia. In course of time, however, the idea gained ground that Tyche was

the authorof evil as well as of good fortune. Sheresembled, in this respect, Portunaof the Eomans, the who wasregarded asthe source of all that is unexpected in human life. Servius

Tullius wassaid to have introduced into Koine the worship of Eortuna,whosefavouritehe had certainly everyreason regard tohimself. He erecteda temple to her under the name of Fors Fortuna, and made the 24th of June the common festival of the goddess. Later, her worship became still more extensive. Tinder the most different surnames,some of which referred to

the state(Fortunapopuli Romani), and othersto everydescription of private affairs, had a great number of templesand she chapels erected her honour. Sheliad alsocelebrated in templesin Antium and Prseneste.

Ancient artists endowedthis goddess with various attributes, the most important of which was the rudder, which she held in her hand in token of her power to control the fortunes of mankind. She is

100

Greekand Roman Mythology.

also endowed with a sceptrefor the same purpose, with a horn of and plenty as the giver of good fortune; sometimesshe is also representedwith the youthful Plutus in her arms. The later conception of an impartial goddess fate is apparentin thoseart-monuments of which depict her standing on a ball or wheel. Among the larger existing works,we maymention a copypreserved the Vatican of a in Tyche by Eutychidesof Sicyon, which was formerly exhibited in Antioch. The goddess here wearsa mural crown on her headas the tutelary deity of towns,and has a sheafof corn in her right hand. BesidesFortuna, the Romans honoureda deity called Felicitas

as the goddess positive good fortune. Lucullus is said to of

have erecteda temple to her in Rome, which was adornedwith the works of art brought by Mummius from the spoils of Corinth. Even this did not suffice for the religious needs of the people, and we find that the belief in personal protecting deities grew rapidly among both Greeks and Romans. These deities were termed by the Greeks "doomones," and by the Romans " genii." They were believed to be the invisible counsellorsof every individual, accompanyinghim from birth, to death, through all the stages of life, with advice and comfort. Offerings of wine, cake, incense, and garlands were made to them, particularly on birthdays.

IL-

THE

GODS OF THE

SEA AND

WATERS.

1. Poseidon (Neptunus).-Poseidon, or KTeptunus, he as

was called by the Romans, was the son of Cronus and Rhea. Homer calls him the younger brother of Zeus, in which casehis

subjection the latter is only natural. Accordingto the comto

mon account, however, Zeus was the youngest of the sons of

Cronus, acquired sovereignty his brothersby having but the over overthrowntheir cruel father. Poseidonwas accordinglyindebted to his brother foy his dominion over the sea and its

The Godsof the Sea and Waters.

101

deities, and was therefore subject to him. He usually dwelt, not in Olympus, but at the bottom of the sea. Here lie was

supposed inhabit, with Ampliitrite his wife, a magnificent to goldenpalacein the neighbourhood .ZEgae.Originally,like ofOceanus and Pontus, he was a mere symbol of .the watery

element,but he afterwards attained an entirely independent personality. Evenin Homer he no longer appears the sea asitself, but as its mighty ruler, who with his powerful arms

upholdsand circumscribes earth. He is violent and imthe petuous, like the elementhe represents. When he strikesthesea with his trident, the symbol of his sovereignty, the waves rise with violence, dash in pieces the ships, and inundate

the land far and wide. Poseidon likewise possesses power the of producingearthquakes, cleaving rocks, and raising islandsin the midst of the sea. On the other hand, a word or look

from him suffices allay the wildest tempest. Virgil, in the to

first book of the ^jEtieid, has given a beautiful description of the

tamingof the fierceelements the god. by

Poseidon was naturally regarded as the chief god of all the

seafaring classes, such as fishermen, boatmen,and sailors,who esteemed astheir patron and tutelary deity. To him they him addressed their prayers beforeenteringon a voyage, him they to broughttheir offerings gratitudefor their safereturn from the inperils of the deep. Poseidon, therefore, enjoyed the highest reputation among the seafaring lonians. His temples, altars, and statues were most numerous in the harbours and seaport towns, and on islands and promontories. Among the numerous shrines of this

deity wemay mentionthat of Corinth, in the neighbourhood of

which were celebratedin his honour the Isthmian games,which

subsequently became national festivalin Greece, a Pylus, Athens,

and the islands of Rhodes, Cos, and Tenos.

It wasonly natural that many legends,local and provincial,

102

Greek and Roman Mythology.

should exist about a god who played such an important part in the lives of seafaring folk. In the Trojan epos he figures as a

violent enemy Troy,his indignationhavingbeenprovoked of by the injustice of the Trojan king, Laomedon. Poseidonhadbuilt the walls of Troy at the king's request with the aid of Apollo, but Laomedon having cheatedhim in the matter of the stipulated reward, Poseidonthereupon sent a terrible sea-monster, which laid waste the crops and slew the inhabitants. They had recourseto the oracle,which counselledthe sacrificeof the king's daughter Hesione. The unhappy maiden was exposed to the monster, but was rescued by Heracles. The fable of this monster, which is manifestly a symbol of the inundation of the

sea,is repeated many succeeding in stories (e.g.,in the story of

Perseus,who rescuedin a similar way Andromeda, the daughter

of the king of Ethiopia). There are numberlessstories,in

which Poseidon appearsas the father of the different national heroes. The most important is, perhaps,the legend of Theseus, of which we shall speaklater on. There was scarcelya Grecian town or district which did not lay claim to divine origin for the personof its founder or ancestral hero. Again, the conception of

the wild stormynatureof the seacaused Poseidonto be represented as the father of various giants and monsters. By the

nymphThoosa became father of the savage he the Polyphemus, slain by Odysseus, thus provoked implacable who the enmity ofPoseidon. The giant Antsous,who fought with Heracles,was also said to be a son of Poseidon; besides many other monsters, such as Procrustes, Cercyon, and the Aloidse. The favourite animal of Poseidon was the horse, which he was supposedto have created. This may, perhaps,be due to the fact that the imagination of the Greeks pictured to itself the horses of Poseidon in the rolling and bounding waves. In Athens the origin of the horse was referred to the contest between Athene and Poseidon, as to who should make the land

The Godsof the Sea and Waters.

103

the most useful present. In Corinthian legend Poseidon appears as the father of the winged horse Pegasus by Medusa. This

story is connected with the taming of the horse,which was

ascribed to Poseidon. On account of his intimate connection

with the horse,Poseidon was especially regarded the patron as

Fig. 35.-Poseidon.

Dolce Gem.

of the games, had, in consequence, altar of his own on and an

all race-courses. The competitors, before the races,solicited his favour with prayers and sacrifices.

104

Greek and Roman Mythology.

The dolphin and the pine-tree were held sacred Poseidon, to the latter probablybecause was so extensivelyused in shipitbuilding. Black steers,horses, rams, and wild boars were sacrificed to him.

The Romans not being a seafaring people, Neptune never stood in such high estimation among them as among the Greeks. In Rome his prominent characteristic was his connection with the horse and the race-course. These were placed under his special protection, for which reason the only temple he had inRome stood in the Circus Plaminius.

The representationof Poseidon,or Neptune, in art harmonises tolerably well with the descriptions the poets. He is accordingly of represented similar to his brother Zeus in size and figure, with as broaddeepchest,dark wavy hair, and piercing eyes. Artists intimated the greaterviolenceof his nature by giving himmore angularity of face, and a more bristling and disordered head of

hair than Zeus. The expressionof bis countenance more grave is and severe,and the kindly smile that plays around the mouth ofZeus is altogether wanting. Ancient statues of Poseidon are comparatively rare. times in its place we find a tiller. The Vatican

Museum possesses fine bust, and also a marble statueof the god. a He is generallydistinguishedby the trident in his right hand; someA band similar to a diadem

denoteshis dominion over the sea. Our engraving of the god is after a beautiful gem of the Dolce collection (Fig. 35). 2. Amphitrlte.-After Poseidon had attained an almost exclusive veneration as god of the sea,Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, was given him to wife. According to the usual account, he carried her away from Naxos. Others say that she fled to Atlas to avoid the rude wooing of the god, but Poseidon's dolphin found her and fetched her back. She had three children by Poseidon-Triton, Rhode, and Benthesicyme. In plastic art, Amphitrite is generally depicted as a slim and beautiful young woman, either nude or half clothed, riding in the chariot of Poseidonat his side,or by herself. On gems she also appearsenthroned on the back of a mighty Triton, or riding a sea-

The Godsof the Sea and Waters.

horseor dolphin. Her hair generallyfalls looselyaboutliSJ Sheis distinguishedby the royal insignia of the diademat times she also wields the trident of her husband.

105

The worship of Amphitrite was entirely unknown to the Bomans, who recognisedthe sea-goddess Salacia as the wife of Neptune. 3. Triton and the Tritons.-Triton was the only son of Poseidon and Amphitrite; he never appears, however, to have

enjoyed divine honours. This perhaps explainshow it came to pass that hewassubsequently degraded the level of a fabulous tosea-monster. The poet Apollonius Rhodius describes him as

having a body, the upper parts of which were those of a man,

while the lower parts were those of a dolphin. Such too is his appearance works of art. Poets and artists soon revelled in in the conception of a whole race of similar Tritons, who were regarded as a wanton, mischievous tribe, like the Satyrs onland.

The Tritons, assea-deities fantasticform, are of little importance of in higher art, though they were all the more frequently employedin fountains and water-works. The fore-legs of a horse were some-

times added to the human body and dolphin's tail, thus giving rise to the figure termedthe Ichthyocentaur.

4. Pontus and his Descendants.-We have already spoken Pontusand his racein our account the Theogony. of ofHere we can only mention those of his children who either enjoyed divine honours, or are of importance in art. The eldest among them was Nereus. 1. Nereus and his Daughters.-Nereus presents to us the

calm and pleasantside of the sea. He appearsas a kindly, benevolent man,the goodspirit of the ^Egcan wherehe old sea,dwells with his fifty lovely daughters, the Nereids, ever readyto assist the storm-beaten sailor in the hour of need. Like all

water-spirits, Nereus possessed the gift of prophecy, though he,

106

Greek and Roman Mythology.

did not alwaysclioose makeuseof it. Heracles to soughthim on his way to the gardenof the Hesperides, order to learn inhow he might get possession the golden apples. of In spite of

his urgent entreaties,Kerens endeavoured elude him by to

assuming every kind of shape, though he was at length vanquished by the persistence of the hero, who would not let him

gountil he had obtained necessary the information. By his wife Doris, the daughterof Oceanus, became he thefather of fifty, or, according to some, of a hundred daughters, who were all veneratedas kindly, beneficent sea-nymphs. They

are a charming, lovely tribe, who win the heartsof the sailorsnow by their merry sports and dances, now by theii* timelyassistance the hour of danger. This joyous band generally in forms the train of Poseidon and Amphitrite. BesidesAniphitrite, the chosenbride of Poseidon,we find among them Thetis, the

beautiful mother of Achilles, so celebrated ancient poetry, in who usually figures as their leader. Her beauty and grace were so great that Zeus himself became her lover. He surrendered her, however, to Peleus, son of ^[-Cacua, because an oracle had declaredthat the son of Thetis should becomegreaterthan his father.

In art Nereus generally appearsas an old man with thin grey locks. He is commonlydistinguishedby a sceptre, evena trident. or The Nereids were depicted as graceful maidens, in earlier times slightly clothed,biit later entirely nude, riding on dolphins,Tritons, or other fabulousmonsters the deep. of

2. Thaumas, Phorcys,Cdo.-Whilst Kerensand his daughters represent the. sea in its peaceful aspect, Thaumas, the second son of Pontus, represents it as the world of wonders. By Electra, a daughter of Oceanus,he becamethe father of Iris, the messengerof the gods, and also of the Harpies. The latter

personifythe storm-winds. Originally fair maidens, they wore

afterwards represented as winged creatures,half man and half

The Godsof the Sea and Waters.

107

bird; they had the faces of maidens,but their bodies were

coveredwith vultures' feathers; they were pale and emaciated

in appearance, werecontinuallytormented and with an insatiable hunger. They arebestknown from the story of the Argonauts, wherethey appear the tormentorof the blind king Phineus, aswhose table they continually robbed of its viands, which they

eitherdevoured spoiled. They wereregarded the ancients or by

as the ministers of sudden death, and were said to be either two

or three in number. Phorcys and Ceto, the brother and sister of Thaumas,present to us the sea under its terrible aspect. This

pair, from whose union sprang the Gorgons, Grsese, the the and dragon the liesperides, of typify all the terrors and dangers ofthe deep. We shall have more to say concerning the Gorgons and Grseoe the story of Perseus. in 5. Proteus.-Proteus is a deity of inferior rank. He is

represented an old man (the servantof Poseidon) as endowed with the gift of prophecy. He plays the same part in the story of Troy asKerensdoesin that of Heracles. His usual abodewas the island of Pharos. It was thither that Menelaus turned

after he had been driven to the coast of Egypt, on his return

from Troy, to seek adviceof the " unerring old man of the thesea." But Proteus, being in no amiable mood, sought to elude

the importunity of the heroby convertinghimself into a lion, a dragon,a panther, a wild boar, and many other forms. At length,however, wasvanquished the persistence Menehe by of laus, and vouchsafed answer. He was supposed be the an to keeper the fish who inhabit the depthsof the sea,and of the ofother marine animals.

In works of art he generally appears like a Triton, i.e., with body ending in a fish's tail. He is usually distinguished by a crook. 6. Glaucus.-Among the inferior sea-deities, Glaucus de-

serves mention as playing a part in the story of the Argonauts.

108

Greekand Roman Mythology.

He wasreally only a local god of the Anthedonians Boeotia, in and his worship was not extendedto other placesin Greece. But though he had no splendid temples, stoodin very high heestimation among the lower classes of sailors and fishermen;

indeed find universallythat the common we people,in all their

cares,turned rather to the inferior deities, whom they supposed

to standcloserto them,than to the higher and moreimportant

gods. According to the story, Glaucus wasoriginally a fisherman of Antheclon, who attained in a wonderful manner the rank of a god. One day, after having caught somefish, he laid them half deadon the turf closeby. He was astonishedto see,however,that on coming in contact with a certain herb, which was unknown to him, they were restored to life and sprang back into the sea. He himself now ate of this wonderful herb, and immediately felt himself penetrated by so wondrous a sensation of bliss and animation that, in his excitement, he too sprang into the sea. Oceanusand Thetis hereupon cleansedhim from all his human

impurities,and gave him a placeamong sea-gods.He was the

venerated on many of the islands and coasts of Greece as a friendly deity, ever ready to assist the shipwrecked sailor or thecastaway.

In art lie is represented a Triton, rough and shaggy appearas in

ance, his body covered with mussels or sea-weed. His hair and beard

showthat luxuriancewhich characterises sea-gods.

7. Ino Lettcothea, and Melicertes.-Like Glaucus, Ino, the daughter of Cadmus,attained at onceimmortality and divine rank by a leap into the sea. She was a sister of Semele,the mother of Dionysus, and the wife of Athamas, king of Orchomenus. It was she who, after the unhappy death of Semele,

took chargeof the infant Dionysus. Hera,however,avenged

herself by driving Athamas mad, whereupon he dashedLearchus, his eldest son by Ino, against a rock. He was about to inflict the same fate on Melicertes, his second son, when in frantic

TheGods theSeaand Waters. of

I0

hastethe unhappymother sought to saveher child hy flight. Athamas, however, pursued as far asthe Isthmus,whenIno, her seeingno hope of escape, cast herself from the rock Molurisinto the sea. Here she was kindly received by the Nereids, whoconverted both her and her son into sea-deities. She hence-

forth bore the name of Leucothea, and her son that of Paloemon. They were both regarded as benevolent deities of the stormy sea,who cameto the assistance of those who were shipwrecked

or in otherperil. Theyappear this guisein the Odyssey, in where

Odysseus, who saw only certain death before him, is represented as having been savedby a scarf thrown to him by Leucothea. 8. The Sirens.-The Sirens must also be reckoned among the sea-deities. They are best known from the story how

Odysseus succeeded passing them with his companions in

without being seducedby their song. He had the prudence to stop the ears of his companions with wax, and to have himself bound to the mast. The Sirens were regarded as the daughters either of the river-god Achelous by one of the nymphs, or of Phorcys and Ceto. Only two Sirens are mentioned in Homer, but three or four were recognised in later times and introduced into various legends, such as that of the Argonauts, or the Sicilian story of the rape of Persephone. Demeter is said to have changed their bodies into those of birds, because they

refusedto go to the help of their companion, Persephone, when

she was carried off by the god of the lower world. In art they arerepresented, the Harpies, asyoung womenwith like the wingsand feetof "birds. Sometimes they appearaltogetherlike

birds, only with human faces; at other times with the arms and

bodies of women, in which casethey generally hold instruments of music in their hands. As their songswere death to thosewho were seduced them,they areoiten depictedon tombs as spirits of death. by 9. The Race of Oceanus.-Lastly, we must enumerate

amongthe water-deities numerousdescendants Oceanus, the of

110earth. The

Greek and Roman Mythology.

latter were believed to have their common source

viz., the Oceanids,and also the rivers that are spread over the in the oceanencircling the earth, and thence to flow beneath the ground until they reached the surface in springs. Oceanus himself appears in the myths which treat of the genealogyof the gods as the eldest son of Uranus and Gxa, and therefore, like his wife Tethys, a Titan. As he did not take

part in the rebellionof the otherTitans againstthe dominionof

Zeus, he did not share their dreadful fate, but was allowed to remain in undisturbed enjoyment of his ancient domain. He was supposedto dwell on the most western shores of the earth, which he never left even to attend the assembliesof the gods. On account of their great importance to the fertility of the soil, the river-gods enjoyed a great reputation among the Greeks,

although their worship was entirely of a local nature. Only Achelous,the greatestof all the Greekrivers, appears have to enjoyedgeneralveneration. The river-godswere believedtodwell either in the depths of the rivers themselves,or in rocky

grottoes neartheir sources. They weredepictedeither as delicate youths, or as men in their prime, or as old men, according to the magnitude of the river. They all possessa conformity with the nature of their element, viz., that power oftransformation which we discover in the other sea-deities.

They also appear, like other water-spirits, to possess the gift of prophecy. Among the Romans all flowing waters were held sacred. Fontus, the son of Janus, was especially esteemedas the god of springs and fountains in general; but, as among the Greeks, eachriver had its special deity. The most important of these was Tiberinus. The springs were popularly supposed to be inhabited by nymphs gifted with the powers of prophecy and magic, who sometimes honoured mortals with their favours, as

Egeriadid King Nuroa.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

ill

In art the river-godswere commonlyrepresentedin the guise of thoseanimalswhoseforms they were most in the habit of assuming. They thus appear serpents, as bulls, or even as men with bulls' heads. They were alsoportrayed,however,in purely human guise,with the exception of having small horns on either side of the head. Their attributes consist urns and horns of plenty, symbolsof the blessings of that proceed from them.

III.-THE

GODS

OF

THEWORLD.

EARTH

AND

LOWER

We

now

come to a class

of

deities

who

stand

in the

most

decided contrast to the gods of the heaven and the sea,whom

wehave previously described.It consists thosedeitieswhose of

power is incessantly exerted either on the surface or in the depths of the earth, and who are accordingly brought into the closestconnection with the life of man. The worship of these deities assumed among the Greeks a passionate and excited character,at first entirely strange to the Romans, though it gradually crept in here also. Though the ancients saw in the earth, on the one hand, the fruitful sourceof all life in nature, they did not seekto disguise the fact that it is, on the other hand, also the open sepulchre into which all earthly existence sinks when its time is over. The worship of these deities was therefore celebrated with festivals of joy and mirth at the seasonof the revival of nature, and with mournful solemnities at the season of its decay. The devotees manifested both their mirth and mourning in a loud, noisy, passionate manner, usually designated orgiastic. An element of mystery never failed to introduce itself into the worship of these deities, who, in virtue of their dwellings, were able to inspire a greater feeling of awe than the bright forms of the gods of heaven. Their wrath also, which manifested itself

in the sterility of the soil, was the subject of especialfear.

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

Mysteriesproper,or secret rites, existedonly amongthe Greeks. but neverfound their way into the religious systemsof Italy.We shall enumerate first the deities of the upper world, who

preside overthe growth of flocksand the fruits of the earth,and

then those who inhabit the lower world.

1. Gsea (Tellus).-First among them is Gsea, Mother or Earth herself. This deity appears the Cosmogony myths in (orrelating to the formation of the universe) as one of the primeval creative forces, having herself proceeded immediately from Chaos. In later times she acquired a more personal and plastic character, although she never attained any real importance in the religious system of the Greeks, owing to the existence of more definite and substantial deities, such as Rhea, Hestia, Demeter, and Themis. The worship of Tellus in Rome was more important, although here, too, it was somewhat thrown into the shadeby the worship of Ceresand kindred deities. The chief significance of Goea lies in the fact that she is the sourceof all life and increasein nature. She is hence regarded as a mother who tends with loving care all her children. Under this aspect her praisesare simg by Hesiod, and also in an ancient Dodonaic hymn. Like Demeter and other deities who dispense prosperity and abundance,she appearsastending and nourishing the young, and is often representedthus on ancient monuments. At the sametime Gscais the common grave of mankind, and draws all things, with inexorable severity, down into her dark womb. She thus becomes a goddessof death and the lower world, and was on this account invoked, together with the Manes, as a witness of all solemn compactsand oaths.

A very ancientshrineof this goddess existed at Delphi, and the oraclethere had once, said the Delphians,belongedtoher.

In' Rome, where she was also veneratedas a goddess of mar-

The Gods of the Earth and Lower World.

113

riage,her temple stood on the site of the house of Spurius

Cassius. [Festive offerings were made to her before and after seed-time. On the occasion of the Paganalia, she and Ceres

were propitiated by the sacrificeof a pregnantsow,which was supposed promotethe prosperityof the coiningyear. to 2; Rhea Cybele (Magna Mater Idsea).-Rhea is wellknown as the daughter of Uranus and Gsea, and the wife of

Cronus, whom shebecame motherof Zeusand the other by the

Cronidse. She seemsto have enjoyed only a limited measureof divine honours, until she was 'identified with the Phrygian

goddess Cybele,who, like the Egyptian Isis, was an Asiatic

symbol of fertility. She was worshipped throughout Lydia and

Phrygiaunder theappellationof the " Mighty Mother." Thence . her worship, which wasof a peculiarlynoisy character, madeits way throughthe Greekcolonies into Greece itself, and towardsthe end of the second Punic war was, at the instance of the

Sibylline books, introduced into Borne. Attains, king of

Pergamus, was on this occasion good enough to present the Romans with a sacred stone, which was regarded by the inhabitants of Pessinus as the great mother herself. After its arrival at Ostia, this stone was carried to Rome amid a solemn

procession Romanmatrons. The day of its arrival (10th of April) was ever afterwardskept as a festival, at which gameswere celebratedunder the superintendence of the praetor. The worship of Cybele, however, never seems to have become naturalised in Rome, perhaps becauseRomans were not allowed to officiate as her priests. The true homo of the worship of Cybele was the district of Pessinus,a rough and rocky mountain land. It was here that she made her noisy processions,seated in a chariot drawn by lions or panthers, amid the boisterous music of her weird attendants, the Corybantes and Curetos. The myths that relate

114

Greek and Roman Mythology.

to the goddessLear a wild, fantastic character, similar to that of her rites. The best known among them is the story of her favourite, Attis, or Atys. He was a Phrygian youth of a beauty so exceptional that the great mother of the gods chosehim for her husband. At first he returned her affection, but afterwards

lie provedfaithless,and was about to marry a daughterof the king of Pessinus. But the vengeance the angry goddess ofovertook him, for when the wedding guestswere assembled at the festive banquet the goddess appeared in their midst, and rilled those present with panic fear, and troubled their minds.

Atys fled to the mountains, where he slewhimself in a fit of

frenzy. Afterwards, the goddessinstituted a great mourning in memory of him, which took place about the time of the vernal equinox. The priests of the goddessmarched, amid the loud noise of kettle-drums and fifes, to the mountains, in order to

search the lost youth; and whenat length he, or an image for representing him, was found, the priests,in an ecstasy joy, ofdanced about in wild excitement, gashing themselves withknives.

Representations Rhea Cybele are rare. A statue representing of

her seated on a throne is a kettle-drum. is shown in the Vatican. Her usual attribute

3. Dionysus, or Bacclms (Liber).-Dionysus, or Bacchus, was regarded Greeksand Eomansalike as the god of wine by and vineyards. In his more extendedmeaninghe representsthe blessings of the autumn. It is he who causesthe fruits to

ripen for the useof man; it is likewisehe who dispenses manto

kind all the advantages of civilisation and refinement, and of well-ordered political affairs.

Thebeswas described the birth-place of the god. His as mother was Semele, daughter of Cadmus, the whom Zeus,the great god of heaven, honoured with his love. This very love,however, proved fatal to Semele,for the ever-jealousHera came

The Gods of the Earth and Lower World.

115

fco in the guise her nurse,Eeroe, succeeded exciting her of and in her suspicions to the truth of her lover's divinity. She as insidiouslypersuaded Semeleto make her lover swear to dowhat she desired, and then to put him to the test. Semele did so, and then "besought Zeus to appear to her in the full majesty of his divine form. In vain did Zeus adjure her to take back her foolioh.request; she insisted on its fulfilment, and perished miserahly, being burnt to ashes by the flame of Zeus, who approached her in a flash of lightning. Her unborn child was

preserved Zeus, who ordered Hermes to carry it to the by

nymphs of JN"ysa be brought up. A later legend makesIno, the to sister of Semele,the foster-mother of Dionysus. The locality of this ISTysa somewhat uncertain, but it is generally supposedto is be a district of Mount Pangseus Thrace. in Dionysus, after growing up amid the solitude of the forest and

strengthening himself by his contests with its wild beasts, at

length planted the vine. Both the god and his attendants soon became intoxicated with its juice; after which, crowned with wreaths of laurel and ivy, and accompanied by a crowd of nymphs, satyrs, and fauns, he ranged the woods, which resounded

with the loud andjoyful criesof his inspiredworshippers. The legendsays that his education wasthen completed Silenus, by the sonof Fan. In companywith his preceptor and the rest of his train, he then set forth to spreadhis worship and the cultivation of the vine among the nations of the earth. He did not

confinehimself to merevine-planting,however, but proved a real benefactorof mankind by founding cities, and by introducingmorecivilisedmanners and a morepleasantand sociablemode of life among men. On such as refused his favours his wrath fell with dreadful effect. Agave, the mother of the Theban king Pentheus, who had refused to receive him, and the rest of

the Theban women, weredrivenmadby him; and in their frenzy they mistookthe king for a wild boarand tore him to pieces.

116

Greekand Roman Mythology.

The most celebrated among the myths which testify to the wondrous power of Dionysus is the story of the punishment of the Tyrrhenian pirates. On the occasion of his passage from Icaria to ISTaxos, thesepirates put Dionysus in chains, purposing to take him to Italy, and there sell him as a slave. At a nod from the youthful god the chains fell from his limbs; he

appeared a lion, while a bearwasseen the otherend of the as at ship. Vinesand ivy tendrils woundthemselves roundthe mast and sailsof the ship,which stoodstill, whilst the strains of the

Fig. 36.-Dionysus

and Lion.

From the Monument of Lysicrates.

nymphs burst forth. The sailors, terrified by the transformation of the god, leaped overboard, and were changed into dolphins. A line representation,in relief, of this scene still exists on the monument of Lysicrates, at Athens. The most beautiful feature in it is the figure of the god playing with his lion in the most joyous unconsciousness(Fig. 36). With the name of JNaxos, which wasa chief seat of his worship, is connectedthe celebrated story of his marriage with Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, king of Crete. The Attic hero, Theseus,after escapingthe dangersof the Labyrinth by her means,had taken her away with him from

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

Crete in order to marry her.

117

He desertedher, however, whilst The indescribable

asleepon the island of JSTaxos, either of his own accordor

becausewarned of the god in a dream.

anguish consternation Ariadne,on awakingto find herself and of

alone and deserted on a foreign strand, was only equalled by her

joyous surprisewhen Bacchus,returning from his travels in

India, found her and made her his bride. The poets, indeed,

do not relate that Zeusthen bestowed her that immortality on

which he had already given his son on account of his glorious achievements and extraordinary merit toward mankind; but

such appears havebeenthe populartradition. At Athensa to

sort of harvest thanksgiving was celebrated in honour of both Dionysus and his bride, at which vines with the grapes on them were borne in solemn procession through the streets of thecity.

The worship of Dionysus extended not only over the whole

of Greece, alsoto Italy, Asia Minor, Thrace, but and Macedonia,

and to every place where the vine was cultivated by the Greeks. The god was extolled as Lyseus, the deliverer from care, and great festivals were instituted in his honour, which were of a disorderly character, but very popular among the common

people. At the time of the winter solsticetherewas mourning, because this season vine seemed die away,and the god at the towasbelieved to be suffering persecution at the hands of the evil spirits of winter, and obliged to flee in consequence the sea or to lower world. It was, therefore, thought right to suffer with

him, and people manifested their grief at his disappearance by everykind of wild gesture. At the winter festivalsof Dionysus, which were celebrated everyother year, only womenand girls tookpart. The festivalsof the god at the beginningof spring,when the new wine was tasted for the first time, were purely festivals of gladness,like the greater Dionysia at Athens. Onthese occasions the reawakening of nature was celebrated with

118

Greekand Roman Mythology.

boundless joy and boisterous mirth. All kinds of jokes and mischievous pranks were indulged in, and festive processions and theatrical performances followed each other in quick succession.

The following festivals were celebrated Athens in honour at

of Dionysus:1. The Lesseror Rural Dionysia. This wasthe vintagefestival

proper, which did not take place in Attica till the end ofNovember or beginning of December, becausethey liked to let the grapes hang as long as possible. A he-goat was first solemnly sacrificed to the god; this was followed by a festive processionbearing the sacredthings, aruj. the festival concluded with all kinds of country amusements, dancing, masquerading,and

revelling. The chief amusement the young menwasdancing of

on the leather bag. Out of the skin of the slaughtered goat was made a leather bag, which was inflated and smearedwith oil: the young men then attempted to dance on it. K 2. The Lencca,or feast of the wine-press,was celebrated in the month of January at Athens, in the place where, according to an old tradition, the first wine-press had stood. Here stood the Lenscon,one of the two chief temples of the god. The chief feature of the festival was a magnificent procession with the sacred symbols of the god. This was followed by a great banquet, the viands for which were furnished by the city ofAthens. The new wine which was drank on these occasions did

not tend to diminish the hilarity of the worshippers, so that all kinds of mischievousjokes were perpetrated. 3. The Anthesteria were celebratedin February, on the llth, 12th, and 13th days of the month Arithesterion. They were

supposed commemorate return of Dionysus to the fromthe lower

world, or, in other words, the reawakening of nature from, the

sleepof winter. The first day wascalledinQoiyia, (cask-opening),

because on this day the new wine was first broached. The

The Godsof the Eartli and Lower World.

119

second chiefdayof thefestival calledXQZS and was (cups). A

procession a great "banquet and took place,at which the guests were crowned with flowers. Many liberties were permitted tothe slaves on this occasion,as at the Eoman Saturnalia. The third day was called x^TPOL (pots), because vesselswere displayed filled with all kinds of boiled vegetables. Thesewere regarded in the light of offerings for the souls of the dead,who were popularly supposed to revisit the upper world onthis occasion.

4. The Greater or City Dionysia formed the chief festival of the god, and the proper spring-feast of theAthenians. It was cele-

brated with extraordinary splendour in the month of March, and lasted several days, bringing together a vast concourseof strangers from all parts. The city,renowned fined alike for the rethe artistic taste and

keen wit of its inhabitants, then donned its holiday garb,andinnumerablemerry antics were played by thecrowds assembled in theFig. 37.-The so-called Sardanapalus in Ihe

streets and squares. The

Vatican.

120

Greek and Roman Mythology.

chief feature of the festival was a solemn procession,in which an old wooden statue of the god was borne through the streets.

Therewerelikewisebanquets and comic processions masks, in

andgrand representations comedies tragedies.The of new and

proceedings concludedwith the presentation of prizes to the successfulcompetitors.The likewise Italian nationalities a festicelebrated

val on the 17th of March, called the Liberalia, in honour of Liber, or Liber Pater, the Italian god of the vine. It was distinguished throughout by the simplecountrified character of the

proceedings,and resembled the Lesser Dionysia of the inhabitants of Attica. People

amused themselves with all

kinds of jokes and antics, and with masquerades, the

masks from for which were cut The the bark of trees.

chief object of the festival was to pray for the fertility

of the vines.Fig. 38.~Youthful Dionysus. From the Chateau

These innocent

Richelieu, intheLouvre. now

nalia which were afterwards

festivals had nothing to do With the VoluptuOUS Bacchainto Eome in imitation

introduced

of the Greek mysteries,and which the most rigorous interference of the authorities was unable to suppress.

If we try to conceive briefly the significance theworshipof of

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

121

Dionysus the religionof the ancients, shall find that in his in we primitive character god was a personification the active, the of productive powerof nature. As Demeterwassupposed give tocorn and the other fruits of the field, so Dionysus was supposed to give the fruits of trees, and especially of the vine. He was likewise regarded as the author of the blessings of civilisation, so that, on this point, he supplements the idea of the great culturegoddess Demeter, with whom, both among the Greeks and

Romans, had manytemples festivalsin common. Looking he and

at Ms characterfrom another side,we find him coming into contact with Apollo, since he was supposed not only to endow men with a kindly, cheerful disposition, but also to inspire them with

a love of music,on which account washonoured he with Apollo

as the friend and leader of the Muses.

Artistic representations Dionysus have comedown to us on of numerousmonuments. In earlier art he was generally depictedas majesticand grave,and on that account represented with a beard. We have given an instanceof this earlier conception the so-called in Sardanapalus the Vatican (Fig. 37). In later art he became of moreyouthful, and was characterised by adelicate roundness of form. The statues

of this period are distinguishedby the

almost feminine expression of face with

which,they endowthe god,as well as by the roundedlimbsand the gracefulease

of every attitude. The statue of a youthful Dionysus in the Louvre at Paris isan instance of this later mode of con-

ception (Fig. 38). So likewise is the head of Dionysus at Leyden, which is distinguished by a sweet expression of reverie. His soft hair, which falls about

his shoulders in delicate ringlets, is

generally intertwined with a garland of vine leaves or ivy (Fig. 39). The other

attributesof the godarethe thyrsus, or

Bacchic wand, the diadem, the skin of a wild beast falling across his chest,

which oftenforms sole his clothing, Fig.39.-Marble ofYouthful and Head

the drinking-cup in his hand. He is DionysusLeyden. at

122

Greek and Eoman Mythology.

generally accompanied lions, tigers, or panthers; and the bull by and ram, as the symbols of fortuity, were held sacredto him, while the latter was also Ms usual sacrifice. Among plants,besides the vine and the ivy, the laurel was held sacred to him on

accauntof its powersof inspiration.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

123

Of all the prominentpersonages the storiesof Dionysus,Ariadne in

has received most attention at the hands of the sculptor. The most celebrated of such ancient monuments is a marble figure of great

beauty,largerthan life, representing sleepingAriadne. It is now the

preserved theVaticanMuseum Rome(Fig.40). Amongthe in .at

tFig. 41.-Dannecker's Ariadne. Frankfort-on-tlie-Main.

productions of modern sculptors, the Ariadne of Dannecker,at Frankfort-on-tke-Main, which represents as the bride of Theseus, her riding on a panther,justly enjoysa very high reputation (Fig. 41). 4. The Nymphs.-Weterrestrial divinities

now come to a class of inferior

in the train of Bacchus

who are often found

The most numerous and important of these are the Nymphs. They personify the restlessactivity and energy of nature, over the whole of which their power extends. They manifest their presence

124

Greek and Roman Mythology.

in the murmuring, rippling streams brooks,as well as in the and

sprouting vegetation of wood and meadow. They are tender, graceful maidens, who, though kindly disposed towards men, yet avoid human habitations, and prefer the peaceful solitude of the woods and mountains, where they lead a merry, joyous life among the clefts and grottoes. Sometimesthey devote themselvesto useful pursuits, and spin and weave; sometimesthey engage graceful dances,and sing in merry songs, or bathe their delicate limbs in the white spray of lonely brooks. They gladly join the train of those superior deities supposedto preside in the realms of nature. Thus we see them joining in the Bacchic revelry with Dionysus, or figuring in the train of Aphrodite, or ranging field and wood as they hunt in the company of Artemis. According to the divisions of nature, over which the Nymphs

were supposed preside,we may distinguish the following to

classes:-

1. The Water-Nymphs, to whom, in their wider signification, the Oceanidsand Nereids also belong. Here, however, we Lave only to deal with the water-nymphs of the brooks and fountains of the land, who are distinguished by the name of Naiads. As the kindly nourishers of plants, and as thereby ministering indirectly to the sustenance both man and beast, they enjoyed of

a large measureof venerationamong the ancients,although, beinginferior deities,they couldclaimno temples their own. of Like the sea-nymphs, possessed gift of prophecy, they the andappear as the patrons of poetry and song.

2. Nymphs of theMountains,or Oreads, whombelong to the nymphs of the valleys and glens (Napaase). Thesewerevery numerous,and receivedspecial names from the particularmountains or districts they inhabited. The most celebrated among them was the Boeotiannymph Echo. She was consumed

by love for the beautifulyouth Narcissus, son of the river-god a

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

125

Cephisus, finding that he did not reciprocate affection^ and her she pined away in ever-increasing grief, until at length heremaciated frame was changed into rock, and nothing but her voice remained. But Aphrodite avenged this injury to her sex on Narcissus, who had in his vain self-love thus contemned the beautiful nymph. As he was hunting one day on Mount Helicon, he bent down to quench his thirst from a spring clear

as crystal,and the goddess caused him to fall in love with his

own shadow, which was reflected in the water. The object of his desiresbeing unattainable, he too pined away from grief, andthe flower named after him has ever since continued an emblem

of heartlessbeauty. 3. The Dryads, or Hamadryads (wood-nymphs).

These

appearto have beena conceptionof later times. It wassupposed that their existence depended that of the trees they on inhabited,so that when the latter were destroyedthe nymphsalso perished. Not sharing immortality, therefore, they cannot

properlybe reckoned amongthe gods.

The veneration of nymphs wo3 very ancient in Greece,and was thence transferred to Eouie. Goats, lambs, milk, and oil" were offered to them.

In art they aredepictedas lovely mallens, generally only slightly

clad, and adorned with flowers and garlands.element.

The Naiads are also

represented drawing water, or with attributes relating to their as 5. The Satyrs.-In contrast to the Nymphs, or female personifications of the life of Nature, we find a number of inferior wood and water-deities of the male sex, called Satyrs, Sileni, and Panes, between whom it is difficult to distinguish clearly.

Generallyby Satyrs (Fauni) we understandthe wood and

mountain-spirits proper, who are inseparably connected with Dionysus, whose attendant train they form. Coarsesensuality and a wanton spirit of mischief are the leading features of their

126

Greek and Roman Mythology.

character. On account their animal propensities of they were

fabled to be only half human in appearance, with blunt noses and otherwise ignoble features,bristling hair, goat-like ears,and a goat's tail. Like the Muses, they love music and dancing, their instruments being the Syrinx and the flute, together with cymbals and castanets. Like their master,they were passionately addicted to excessive indulgence in wine; but whereas in the

former this produced only a rapturous enthusiasm and an

exalted frame of mind, with them its effects were purely sensual,and excited them to insaneand unseemlypranksof all kinds.

The Satyrs were not an uncommon subject of representation among ancient artists. The conception was based on half-animal type; and in art, as well as in poetry, the blunt nose, the pointed ears,and the

the originalhideoushalf-man,

goat'stail form their characteristic features. The Bacchic

insignia of a band round the belong to them.

lections of Munich

brow and an ivy garlandalso

There areand Borne, Gallery.

some particularly fine antique statues satyrsin the art-col- Fig. of 42.-Head Satyr. Munich of Scmlpturesatyr in the Munich collection.

The engraving (Pig. 42) shows the highly-expressiveface of a

6. Sileims,-Silenus,

according to the common tradition, was

an old satyrwho tended and brought up Dionysus, and afterwardsbecame faithful companion his wanderings. He is the ofdepicted by the poets as a somewhat elderly man, with blunt nose and bald head, hairy chest and thighs, and a stomach so

largethat he canscarcely walk. He generally appears riding oil

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World. sidesupportinghis half-drunkenform.

127

an ass in front of the Bacchic company, with a satyr on either The artistsof antiquity seem havedevotedthemselves to frequently to the subjectof Silenus. They either represented him as the nurse

and preceptor the youthful Bacchus, of holding the child in his

armsand regardinghim with a look of affection,in which the comic elementis entirely lacking, or they presenthim to us as the insatiable

but good-natured wine-bibber. His standingattributeis thewineskin, besideswhich, like other members of the Bacchic train, he bearsa thyrsusand ivy garland. Besides Silenus, who was celebrated as the preceptor of

Dionysus,therewas a whole tribe of Sileni. Whetherthis is

due to the fact that the older satyrs were called Sileni, or whether they form a special class of deities presiding over the flowing, gushing water, cannot be determined with any certainty.

Among the Sileni were two personages who play a part in

the story of Dionysus. These were Marsyas and Midas. The former, like all satyrs, was an accomplishedmaster of the flute,

and challenged Apollo to a trial of skill which provedfatal to

him. The conditions of the contest were that he who was

vanquished should put himself entirely in the power of his adversary. Apollo won, and madea cruel use of his victory byhanging Marsyason a pine tree and flaying him alive.

Midas was the mythic founder of the kingdom of Phrygio,

in Asia Minor, whither he had emigrated from Macedonia. Tradition makes him a son of Cybele, and, as her favourite,

endowed with fabulouswealth. But, like many of the sonsoi menin the presentday, the richer he grew the greaterwas histhirst for gold, until it betrayed him at length into an act of

great folly. One day, the drunken Silenus strayedfrom the companyof Bacchus into the garden of Midas. The latter receivedhim with greathospitality, and after entertaining him sumptuously ten days brought him to Bacchus. Pleased for

128

Greek and RomanMythology.

with his kindness, the god rewarded him with the gratification

of any wish he might make. Midas now wishedthat everything he touched might turn to gold. Naturally the gratification

of this wish well-nighprovedhis ruin; and he only escaped by

washing, at the command of the god, in the river Pactolus, which has ever since washed down gold in its sands. A later fable makes Midas the judge in the rivalry of Apollo and Pan, on which occasion he decided in favour of the latter, for which the god changedhis ears into thoseof an ass. Modern criticism

hasseen the rich Midas one of the many personifications in of the sun,who,ashe risesover the earth,turns all things to gold.7, Greek and Roman Wood-Spirits.-1. Pan.-Pan was a very ancient god of the .woods and meadows. He was at first honoured only "by the inhabitants of the mountain-

land of Arcadiaand by other pastoraltribes. Subsequently

his divinity was more generally acknowledged and more highly esteemed. Common accounts make him the son of

Hermesby the nymph Penelope, daughterof Dryops. His a motherwasnot a little terrified at his birth, sincehe washairyall over, and had horns and goat's feet. His father wrapped him in a hare-skin, and bore him to Olympus, where the assembledgods showed no small pleasure at the sight of the strange little wood-demon. From time immemorial Pan was

regarded the shepherdsof Greeceas their most doughty by

protector; for which reason the mountain caves in which they gathered their herds together at night, or in threatening weather, were held sacredto him. There were many such caves of Pan in the mountains of Arcadia, and also one at the foot of the Acropolis at Athens, besides others on Mount Parnassus in

Boeotia, elsewhere.Pan wasesteemed god of greatcheerand a

fulness and activity of character, who loved to range the woods as a huntsman, and was on this account regardedwith little less veneration by huntsmen than by shepherds. He was also looked

on as the patronof fishingand bee-keeping.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World

129

As the god of shepherds, wascalso lover of music,and Pan a

on returning in the evening from the chase, says the Homeric

story,he waswont to play sweettuneson his pan-pipe(Syrinx)?

whilst the Oreads,or mountain-nymphs, sang the praises of the

godsand led off their spirited dances. The poetshavefounded a story on his discovery the Syrinx. They inventeda fabuof lous nymph called Syrinx, with whom Pan was supposed tohave fallen violently in love. The nymph, however, did not return his affection, and fled from his embraces. Pan pursued her, and in her extremity she sought the aid of Gasa, who transformed her into a reed. Out of this reed Pan, by joining seven piecestogether, made an instrument which he called the Syrinx, after the nymph. Pan was as passionately fond of dancing as of music. According to Pindar, he was the most accomplished dancer

amongthe gods. His favourite amusement was to dancein companywith the mountain-nymphs, which occasions on he regaled themwith everykind of droll leap, in the performanceof which his goat's feet stood him in good stead. As a wood-deity, Pan also possessedthe gift of prophecy; indeed, according to some,it was he who first imparted this gift

to Apollo. He certainlyhad a very ancientoracleat Acacesiimi

in Arcadia.

Wild mountainous country and the thick untrodden forest are both alike apt to impress the lonely traveller with feelings ofawe. All such sensations of sudden and unaccountable fear

wereascribed Pan (Panic). He was also said to delight in to

terrifying travellers with all kinds of strange noises. Hence, ai, a later period, arose the story that in the contest with the Titans he renderedgood service to Zeus by blowing on a shell trumpet which he had invented, whereupon the Titans were seized with a sudden terror. This, however, is only another version of Triton's servicesat the battle with the giants. It is

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Greek and Roman Mythology,

well known that the Athenians introduced the worship of Pan, to which they had been hitherto strangers,into their city after the battle of Marathon, in consequence the assistance of which they believed they had received from the god. Such are the more ancient and simple features of the character of Pan. He assumeda higher significancewhen men began to regard him as the companion of the "Mighty Mother," and assigned him a placein the Bacchic circle. Men now saw in him a productive force of nature like the Phrygian Attis; indeed, in consequence a misinterpretation of his name, he was made the of creatorand god of the universe. He seems to have originally

signified the "purifying" breeze, which at one time whistled

through the reeds,or at another moaned dismally in the forest,

frighteningthe belated traveller.

After he had once been introduced into the company of

Dionysus,poets and artists alike set themselves work to to invent a numberof Panesand little Pans(Panisci),who wereeasily confoundedwith the Satyrs and Sileni. The chief shrine of Pan was at Acacesiumin Arcadia. Cows,

goats, sheep and weresacrificed him. besides to offerings milk, of

honey, and new wine.In art we must distinguish the earlier and later types of the god. In the former,which dates from the best

days of Greek art, he is conceived as entirely human in appearance,with the exception of two sprouting horns on either side of the forehead. Later, he

|<was depicted with larger

horns, a long goat's beard, and goat's feet._ _ __ We give anenFig. P.-IU. 43.From Mural a Painting Herculaneum. gravingof this at later conception. (Fig. 43), which is taken from a mural painting at

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

131

Naples. The usual attributes of Pan are a Syrinx and shepherd's crook,sometimes a pine garland. also 2. Kilvanus.-Among the Eoman wood-deities, Silvanus occu-

pies a position most akin, to that of Pan, althoughthey are not exactly identical. His name, derived from silva (wood), pointshim out asthe god of the forest,where he was supposed to dwell, a deity kindly disposed towards mankind,and propitious to the welfare of trees, plants, and cattle. At times, however, he appears, like Pan, as a mischievous sprite, who

delightsto trick and terrify the lonely traveller. His sphereof

activity was not confined to the woods,since he was also regarded as the author of fraitfulness in gardens and orchards. In this character Silvanus bears a close resemblance to Terminus, the

godof boundaries landedproperty,inasmuch he preserves and as

fields, gardens,and houses from harm. The first of the fruits of the field were offered to him. He had two shrines in Rome,one on the Yiminal and another on the Aventine.

Artists and poetsagree in representingSilvanus as an old man

with a rustic head-gear, scattering blooming lilies and other flowers.

He is usually distinguishedby a pruning-knife. 3. Faunus and Fauna.-Closely resembling Silvanus is another deity called Faunus, one of the most ancient national

godsof Italy. He appears the goodspirit of the mountains, as pastures, and plains. He was regardedby the shepherdsastheir best protector, since he made their cattle fruitful and drove off noxious beasts of prey. In the former character he

wasalsocalledInuus (the fertiliser); in the latter Lupercus (the warde"r-off wolves). of

Like Pan, he appears to have his seat in the woods, whence he sometimesterrifies and annoys travellers. At night, too, he creeps into men's houses, and torments them with evil dreams

and horrible apparitions(Incubus).

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Greek and RomanMythology.

Like Pan, too, Faunus possessed the gift of prophecy, and answered both by direct revelations and by dreams. In this character he was called Fatuus, and had a celebrated oracle in the grove at Tibur, on the spring Albunea. Having once invented a number of Fauns, the poets soon beganto identify them with the Satyrs of the Greeks. In honour of this decidedly national deity, different festivals were celebrated,at which ranis were sacrificed and libations ofwine and milk made. The Faunalia were celebrated on the

Nones of December,on which occasionthe guests at the festive board surrendered themselves to the most unrestrained mirth, and granted many liberties also to their slaves. The Lupercalia, however, formed the proper expiatory festival of Faunus. This festival was celebrated on the 15th of February, and wasremarkable for the number of ancient customs which were

observed. The chief of these was the course of the Luperci, or priests of Faunus, who, after making their offering, ran from the shrine of the god (Lupercal), on the Palatine, through the streetsof Home, their only clothing being an apron cut from the skin of the slaughtered animal. They struck all whom they met with thongs, also cut from the same blood-stained skin. Barren women placed themselves in the way of the Luperci, believing that by meansof the strokes the reproach of barrenness would be taken away from them. As a day of atonement,this day was termed diesfubruatus (from/e&rware, to purify), whencethe name of the month.

The feminine counterpart of Faunus, though not his wife, was Fauna, a propitious, kindly goddessof the plains. She is also

calledMaia, or BonaDea. The women madean offeringto her every year at night, on which occasionmales were strictlyexcluded.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

worship of Priapus, the god of fields and

gardens, appears have been long of a purely local character, to

confined principally to the districts on the Hellespont, since he is not even mentioned by earlier writers. He was the son of

Dionysus and Aphrodite, and presided over the exuberant fertility of nature. He wassupposed exercise to influence overthe fruitfultiess of flocks and herds, whilst fishing and the rearing of bees were also placed under his protection. His

specialsphere,however,was the protection of gardensand vineyards. Asses weresacrificed him, a fact which gaverise toto all sorts of comical stories relating to the hostility of Priapus to this animal. Besidesthis, he received the first fruits of the

gardenand field and drink-offeringsof milk and honey. The

worship of Priapus was introduced into Italy at the same time as that of Aphrodite, and he was identified with the nativeMutunus.

This deity wasscarcely noticed in higher art. In the gardens of Italy, however, rough-hewn pillars of wood, similar to those of Hermes, were erected his honour. He is usually distinguishedby in a priming-knife and club. 9. Saturnus and Ops.-Before passing to Demeter, or Ceres,the -greatgoddessof civilisation, to whom by Greeks and Eonians alike the blessings of the harvest were ascribed, and who forms the best link between the gods of the upper and lower worlds, we must pause to consider spme gods of agri-

culture and cattle-rearing peculiar to the Eomans. Among

them are Saturn and Ops, who belong to the most ancient national deities of Italy. To Saturn was ascribed the introduction of agriculture, together with the cultivation of the vine

and other fruits. He was, therefore,veneratedas the great benefactor mankind, who not only promotedthe physical ofwelfare of men, but who also introduced a higher standard of

civilisation. After the Eomans had become acquainted with the

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

mythology of the Greeks,they identified him with Cronus. In consequence this, the story arosethat, after his dethronement of by Jupiter, Saturn fled to Italy, where he was hospitably received by Janus. There he is said to have brought together the inhabitants, who had hitherto wandered about without any fixed homes,and to have united them in regular political communities, over which he himself ruled. This was the golden

age. In remembrance the happy agewhenmenwerenot yet of

troubled by sorrow or need, the Saturnalia were celebrated

durirg threedays,beginningfrom the 17th of December. This

festival, which with changed meaning still continues in the Carnival of the present day, was celebrated in Eonie with

particularly great splendour. Unbounded festivity reigned throughoutthe whole town, and vented itself in every description of joke and prank. The distinctions of classwere suspended, courtsand schoolskept holiday,and the shops thewere closed. The chief day was the 19th of December,which

wasespecially festiveday for the slaves, on this day there a for werepracticallyno slaves Borne. No services in wererequiredof them, and they were allowed to don the clothes of their mastersand to eat and drink as much as they liked, whilst theirmasters waited on them at table. And this custom allowed a

class, otherwise subject to so many afflictions, to forget their sorrowsfor at least oneday in ayear. Wealthy Eomansgenerally

kept open houseon this day, and vied with each otherin thesplendour of their hospitalities; and of coursea solemn sacrifice was made to Saturn. The woollen bandageswhich, during the greater part of the year, envelopedthe feet of his statue in order that he might not depart without vouchsafing a blessing, were on this day unloosed,and throughout the night the temple was illuminated with wax tapers. This festival, which wasextremely

popular amongthe Bomans, was also celebrated with games in

the circus.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

135

The chief temple of Saturn,which wasbegunby Tarquinius Superbusand finished in the first years of the Kepublic,wassituated on the ascentto the Capitol from the Forum. Beneath it was a vault containing the state treasury, or ararium, the

guardianship the statetreasures of being committedto this god as the dispenser everyblessing. of Eegarded the wife of Saturn,and therefore as identifiedwith Ehea,Opswasthe goddess the seed-timeand harvest. On ofthis account her worship was closely connected with that of Saturn, and she had a place in his temple on the Capitoline.A festival was celebrated in honour of her on the 25th. of

August, when the newly-gathered corn was threshed. When taken together, Saturn and Ops were regardedas deities who presided over marriage and the education of children, it being an easystep from the deity of the sprouting, ripening seed, to that of the budding, thriving seasonof human life. Saturn is always represented an old man, and is generally disas tinguishedby a pruning-knife or sickle.10. Vertumnus and Pomona.-Yertumnus and Pomona

much resemble Saturn and Ops, the only difference being that the former exert their influence solely on the growth and welfare of the fruits of the garden and orchard. Yertumnus properly signifies the self-changing one; referring, probably, to the manifold changeswhich the fruit undergoesfrom the time of its first appearancein blossom to that of its maturity. Tor the same

reason god wassaid to possess faculty of assuming the the any

shapehe liked. The first of the flowers and fruits were offered to him. Pomona, as her name signifies, was the goddessof the fruit harvest, and called by the poets the wife of Yertumnus.

Each deity had a special priest (flamen),though the latter

naturally held only an inferior position. Tn art Yertumnus generally appears a beautiful youth, his head as

136

Greek and Homan Mythology.

crownedwith a garland of ears of corn or laurel, with a horn of plenty, as a symbol of the blessingshe bestows, his right hand. in He is sometimesdistinguished by a dish filled with fruit, or a pruning-knife. Pomonais generally represented the seasonof asAutumn, a beautiful maiden with boughs of fruit-trees in her hand.

11. Flora.-Among the inferior deities of the plain was Flora, the goddessof blossoms and flowers, who was held in great honour by the Sabines, and everywhere in the interior of Italy. Her worship is said to have been introduced into Home by Numa, who assignedthe goddessa priest of her own. She attained a higher significance by becoming a goddess of mater-

nity, whom womeninvoked before their confinement. Her

festival was celebrated with great rejoicings from the 28th of

April to the 1st of May (Floralia). The doors of the houses

were adornedwith flowers, and wreaths were worn in the hair. After the first Punic war, the festival, which was remarkable throughout for its merry and tumuliuous character, was also celebratedwith games, hares and deerbeing hunted in the circus. Artists appear haverepresented to Flora as the season Spring,in of the guise of a beautiful girl crownedwith flowers. There is a fine marble statueof this kind, largerthan life, in the museumat Naples,called the Farnese Flora.

12. Pales,-Pales was the ancient pastoral goddess of the Italian tribes, from whom the name Palatine, which originally meant nothing but .a pastoral colony, was derived. She was especiallyveneratedby the shepherds, who besoughther to sendfruitfulness and health to their flocks. A festival in her honour

was celebrated the 51st of April, the anniversary the on of foundationof the city (Palilia), at which very ancientrusticcustoms were observed. The most remarkable of these was the

kindling of a large straw fire, through which the shepherds rushedwith their flocks, thinking thus to purify themselvesfrom their sins. Milk and baked millet-cakes were offered to the sroddess. Tbere is no statue of her now in existence.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

137

13. Terminus.-Terminus, although he had nothing to do either with the welfare of the crops or the fruitfulness of the flocks, may yet be reckoned among the field deities, as the god who specially presided over boundaries. All landmarks were held sacred to him, and their erection was attended with religious ceremonies. In order that his people might fully

appreciate sanctityof boundaries, the King Numa instituted a special festival in honourof the god, calledthe Terminalia,and annuallycelebrated the 23rd of February. The proprietors onof lands bordering on each other were wont on this occasionto crown the boundary stone with garlands, and to make an offering of a flat cake to the god. In his wider signification Terminus was regarded as the god under whose protection the boundaries of the state reposed,and in this character he had a chapel in the temple of Minerva on the Capitol. A statue of the god also stood in the midst of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which is explained by the following story:-After Tarquinius had conceived the plan of building the great temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, the limited

space necessitated removalof several the existingshrines, which

could only occur with the consent of the deities themselves. They all expressedby means of auguries their readiness to make way " for the highest god of heaven,except Terminus, who refused, and whoseshrine had therefore to be included in the temple of Jupiter. /Statues Terminus are exactlylike the Hermae the Greeks, of of andLave no importance in art.

14. Demeter (Ceres).-Demeter wasa daughterof Cronus

and Ehea. Her name signifies Mother Earth, and she is, therefore, an expressionof the ancient conception of the earth-goddess, with a special reference to nature and human civilisation. She was also named Deo, and by comparison of these two words, her name has been interpreted as Dawn-Mother, from the same root-as Zeus, the sky. The thriving of the crops wasascribed to

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GfreeJc Roman Mythology. and

her influence; she was further regarded as the patroness of al) those arts which are more or less intimately connected with

agriculture,and which men first learned from her. Demeter thus risesto the rank of a goddess civilisation. Sherescued of men by means agriculture from the lower grades hunters of of and shepherds, brought their former rude and barbarous andmannersinto subjection to law and morality. She thus becomes that " bountiful daughter of Heaven," who, as Schiller sings in his Lay of the Bell,*'- of old

Galled the wild man from waste and woldf And, in his hut thy presencestealing, Roused each familiar household feeling; And, best of all the happy ties, The centre of the social band,The instinct of the Fatherland."

Eegarded this light, she comesinto contactwith Dionysus, in

whose beneficial influence on human civilisation and manners

we have already described. This accountsfor the intimate connection of these two deities in the Eleusinian mysteries, where Dionysus-Iacchuseven appears as the son of Demeter and the husband of Cora-Persephone. Owing to the important part she played in the institution of law and order among mankind, she was yenerated as the goddess of marriage, marriage being the necessary foundation of civil society. She was also regarded as the tutelary goddessof national assemblies. Of the numerous legends which are linked with the name of

this goddess, none perhaps morecelebrated, morepregnant is or with meaningin regardto her worship, than the rape of her daughterPersephone, Cora. The latter was once playing orwith the daughters of Oceanus in a flowery meadow, where

they were picking flowers and making garlands. Persephone happened quit her companions a moment to pluck a to for narcissus had perceived, she when suddenly groundopened the

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

139

at her feet, and Pluto, or Hades, the god of the infernal regions,

appeared a chariotdmwn "bysnortinghorses. Swift as the in

wind he seizedand carried off the terrified maiden in spite of

her struggles, vanishedagain into the regionsof darkness and

before her companionswere aware of the catastrophe. All this occurred,however, with the knowledge of Zeus, who had, unknown to Demeter, promised her daughter to Pluto. When Demeter missed her darling child, and none could tell her where

she had gone, kindled torches, she and during many days and nights wandered anxiety through all the countries of the inearth, not even resting for food or sleep. At length Helios,

who sees and hearseverything,told Demeterwhat had happened,not disguising,however,that it had occurred with the consent Zeus. Full of wrath and grief, the goddess of now withdrew from the societyof the other gods into the deepestsolitude. Meanwhile all the fruits of the earth ceased, and a general famine threatened to extinguish the human race. In

vain Zeussentonemessenger another,beseeching angry after the goddess return to Olympus. Demeterswore that shewould toneither return nor allow the fruits of the earth to grow until her

daughter restored her. At length Zeus fain to consent, was to was and despatched Hermesto the lower world to bring Persephone back. Persephone joyfully prepared obeythis command, to but asshewasaboutto depart Hadesgave her a pomegranate-seedto eat, whereupon she found herself bound to him and unable to

return. By means Zeus, of however, compact made a was by

which Persephone to spendtwo-thirds of the year in the was upperworld with her mother,and the remainingportion with her husband. And thus every year at springtide she ascends from her subterraneous kingdomto enjoyherselfin her mother's

company, returnsagainlate in autumnto the regions but of

darkness and death.

It is not difficultto discover meaning thismyth. It is the of

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Greekand RomanMythology.

simply an allegoricalrepresentation the spectacle of that is

annually renewed hefore our eyes-the dying away and coming to life again of the vegetableworld. Whilst Cora is dwelling during the winter months in the realms of Hades, Nature appears to wear a garb of mourning for her lost daughter. In the Eleusinian mysteries this inevitable deceaseand re surrection of the vegetable world was conceived as a symbol of higher meaning, setting forth the immortality of the soul. Every living being shares the fate of Cora; every life becomes the prey of cold, inexorable death, only to arise from the darkness of the grave more beautiful and gloriousthan before.

Closely connected with this beautiful and expressive myth

is another which refers to the institution of the Eleusinian

mysteries. When Demeter, after the loss of her daughter, was wandering over the earth in the guise of a poor old woman, she carneto Eleusis. The daughters of Celeu's, king of the city, the found her sitting on a stone by the Maidens' Well as they came thither to draw water, and offered the old woman service in their father's house as nurse to their youngest brother Demo. phon. The goddessconsented,and was kindly received in the house of Celeiis, where she was at once installed as nurse to the young prince. She became so fond of the child that she

resolved makehim immortalby anointinghim with ambrosia, to

and then laying him at night in the glow of the fire. She was

discovered her work, however,by the mother of the child, at whose criesdisturbed her, and thus prevented from fulfilling herher benevolent intention. She now revealed herself to Celeiis, and commanded him to build her a temple in Eleusis. When it had been hastily completed, with the help of the goddess,she initiated Celeiisand some other princes of Eleusis-Triptolemus, Eumolpus, and Diocles-in the solemn rites of her service. On Triptolemus, who is called the son of Celeiis, she imposed the

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

141

task of disseminating a knowledge of agriculture and of her own

worshipthroughoutthe earthyand for this purpose lent him her own chariot and dragons. On ilils he travelled through the countries the earth,making known everywherethe blessings of of agriculture, uniting men in regularpolitical communities. and He was not well receivedin all places,and the goddesshad sometimes step in and punish those who contemnedher tobenefits. Such was the casewith the Scythian king Lynceus

and the Thessalian princeErysichthon; but at length her cause triumphed, and the worship of the bountiful goddess spreaditself over the whole world.

The chief seat of her worship was the city of Eleusis, which was beautifully situated on the bay of Salamis. It retained this honour even after it had lost its independence and come into" the possession the Athenians. The Eleusinian mysteries were of celebrated both here and at Athens, in honour of Demeter and the deities associatedwith her. They probably contained a symbolical history of Cora. There was a distinction between the greater and lesser mysteries. The latter were celebrated at Athens in the month

of Anthesterion(February), and werea kind of preparationfor

the greater mysteries, which took place in September, and were

celebratedduring nine days, partly at Athens and partly at Eleusis. In these secretrites only those could take part whohad been initiated. The chief feature of the festival was a

great and solemnprocession the sixth day from Athens to on

Eleusis, a distance of about twelve miles. All those who took part in it-often as many as 30,000-were crownedwith myrtle, and bore torches in their hands, as the procession started fromAthens at the earliest dawn.

The festival of the Thesmophoria, which was celebrated at

the beginning of November, in honour of Demeter in her character of lawgiver and goddess of marriage, was less iin-

. 44.~Deiaeter Enthroned. Painting I'rouiPompeii, Naples.

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

143

portant than the Eleusinia. It lasted for five days,and only

married women were allowed to take part in it. The Ceres of the Romans, though undoubtedly an ancient

Italian goddess, the very counterpartof the GreekDemeter, was

with whom, after the successful introduction of her worship during the first years of the Republic, she was entirelyidentified.

The chief festival of Ceres and her associate deities, Liber and Libera, fell on the 19th of April, which, as the proper

spring month, was especiallydedicatedby the inhabitants of Italy to deities presiding over agriculture. The Cerealia were opened a grand procession, which every one was clothed by inin white. It was further celebrated with solemn sacrifices and

games the circus,the management which lay with the in of

plebeian sediles. The usual sacrifice, both among Greeks and Romans, was the

sow(the symbolof fruitfulness),but, besides this, cowsand the

first fruits of the trees and hives were offered to her.

In the representations the goddess expression lofty dignity of an of

is blended with condescending benevolence and gentleness. Her

principal attributes are a torch, a sheafof corn, a garland of earsof

corn, interwoven in her hair, and a basket filled with flowers at her

side. Among the few antique statues,a large marble figure in the Capitoline Museumat Romedeserves especial mention. The engraving (Fig. 44),which is after a Pompeianpainting, depicts Demeterasthe bountiful goddess agriculture. Sheis seatedon a throne,and holds of a torch consistingof two calicesin her right hand, and a bunch ofcorn in her left.

15. Persephone (Proserpina).-In

Persephone, godthe

dess of the lower world, whom the Athenians preferred to call

by her mystic name of Cora, two distinct conceptions are

embodied. On the one hand she appears as the wife of the

dark god of the lower world-like him, a gloomy,awe-inspiring

deity, who pitilessly drags down all that lives into the hidden depths of the earth; whence the grave is called the chamber of

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

Persephone. Such is the view of her taken hy Homer and later epic poets. These representher as sitting enthroned at the side of her grim lord, the joyless queen of the infernal regions, todwell in which were worse than to be a slave on earth. On the

other hand she appears as Cora, the lovely daughter of the allbountiful Mother Earth; a personification, in fact, of that never-dying force of nature which, year by year, causes most the luxuriant vegetation to spring up before our eyes,only, however, to die away again in the autumn. In a somewhat narrower sensePersephonemay be regarded as a type of the grain, which long remains in the ground where it has been sown as though dead, but afterwards breaks forth into new life. It was only natural to associate with this last conception ideas of the immortality of the soul, of which, in the secret doctrines of the mysteries, Persephone was a symbol. Though we know but little concerningthe details of the mysteries, we are yet aware that their chief object was to disseminatebetter and purer ideas of a future life than the popular faith of the Greeks afforded. It was commonly believed that the souls of men after death led a dull, miserable existencein the world of shadows. Those initiated in the mysteries,however, were taught that death was

only a resurrection the soul to a brighterand better life, on of

the condition, of course,that a man had fully pleasedthe gods and renderedhimself worthy of such a happy lot.

Persephone, Proserpina, she is called in Latin, was a or as deity originally entirely strangeto the Eomans, who borrowedall their ideas of the lower world from the Greeks. Never-

theless, they identified her with Libera, an ancient rustic goddess fertility, the feminine counterpartof Liber, under ofwhich name she signifies the same as the Greek Cora. Black, barren cows were sacrificed to Persephone as an infernal

goddess, she doesnot appearto have had any temples but of

her own.

Tlie Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

145

Fig. 45.-Persephone

Enthroned.

Painting from Pompeii.

Naples.

Persephone of no greatimportancein art, and statuesof her are is

rare. She is represented either as the fair daughter of Dcmeter, or as the grave, severe queen of the world of shadows. In the latter

charactershe maygenerallybe recognised her sceptreand diadem by Her other attributes are ears of corn, a poppy, and a torch, as a symbol of her connection with the Elcusinian mysteries,besides the

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

pomegranate narcissus. engraving and The (Fig.45),afterapainting

in the NaplesMuseum,represents as the Stygianqueen. her

16. Hades (Pluto).-The same twofold nature which we meetwith in Persephone "be may observed in her husband, also Hades,or Aidoneus(the invisible), as he is called by the epic poets, account the mysterious on of gloomin which his kingdomas well as his person was enveloped. He first appears as the

unrelenting, inexorable of human life, on whom one cannot foe

even think without fear and trembling. Eor this reason,says

Homer," he is of all the godsthe mostdetested among mortals." This conception, however, was subsequently supplantedby oneof a less dismal nature, in which the other side of his character is brought into prominence. From this point of view he is

represented only as sending not nourishment plants from the to deepbosom the earth,but alsoas offeringunbounded of richesto mankind in the shape of the precious metals which lie in his subterraneous passages chambers. In this sensehe was also and called Pluto, or Pluteus-that is, the god of riches.

Hadesbelonged the earliest deitiesof Greece, to being,like Poseidon, brotherof Zeus.When the threebrothers a partitioned the universe among themselves, Hadesreceived dark regions theof the earth as his exclusive kingdom, the portals of which he was said to keep closed, in order that no soul might return to the upper world without his consent. He was also termed

Polydectes receiverof many),from the fact of his seizing (the on

all men, without distinction, at their appointed time, and conveying them to his dismal realms. The ideas which men first

entertained, to the mode which Hadesexercised power as in his over mortals,exactlycorresponded their grim conception with of the god. He waslookedon as a powerful and dreaded robber, who, as in the case Persephone, of seizes his prey and carries on it off ^ith his swift horses. Later, a milder conception the of god wasintroduced. The task of carryingthe soulsof the dead

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

147

to the lower world was delegated to Hermes, who thus becamea

servantof Pluto, the Zeusof the infernal regions, just as he was otherwisea servantof the Zeus of heaven. But though theoriginal dismal conception of this deity as the inexorable god of death was much diminished in course of time, yet Hades,

nevertheless, alwaysconveyedan idea of something grim, and mysterious the Greek mind j which is perhaps the reason to why so few myths, beyondthat of the rapeof Proserpina, werecirculated concerning him. He can, in fact, scarcely be said to have had a place in the public worship of the Greeks. The Eoman conceptionof this deity differed little from that of the Greeks,having been,in fact, borrowed entirely from a Greek source. By them he was called Pluto, or Pater Dis. He had

no templein Rome,but had, in

common with Proserpina, a subterranean altar in the Campus Martins, which was uncovered and used oncea-year. Only blackanimals were sacrificed to him.

Artists naturally hesitated to portray a being whose very name

they fearedto pronounce, conand sequentlyantiquestatuesof Hades are very rare. His characteristic features-a grim expression of countenance,tightly-closed lips,and long tangled hair-axe embodied in a marble head, in the possession Prince Chigi at Rome, of of which we give an engraving

(Fig. 46). His principal attributes

are a sceptre, a votive bowl, and a key.__

sometimes two-prongedfork,? or ". AR TT TTrTT"^ -oi a i i t> Fig. 46.-Head of Hades. Palazzo v- Chiiri.Homo. 17. The Lower World.-To our consideration of Hades we must add some remarks on the ideas which the ancient

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

Greeks and Eomans had of the other life and of the abodes of

the dead. It may "be well to remark, at the outset, that the

Ilomansdo not originally appear havebelieved a kingdom to in

of the dead in the interior of the earth, and that all their ideas on this subject were borrowed from the writings of the Greeks. Neither do their ideas on this subject, nor even those of the Greeks,appear to have been invariably the same at all times. Even in the poetry of Homer we come acrosstwo very different views as to the situation of the realms of the dead. According to that which we find in the Iliad, it was situated beneath the disc-shapedearth, only a thin layer separatingit from the upper world. This is made evident on the occasionof the great battle of the gods in the 20th book, where we read" Pluto, the infernal monarch,heardalarmed,And, springing from his throne, cried out in fear, Lest Neptune, breaking through the solid earth,

To mortals and immortalsshould lay bare His dark and drear abodeof godsabhorred." According to another view which prevails in the Odyssey, the world of shadowswas not situated beneath the earth, but lay far to the westward, on the other side of Oceanus,or on an island in the same; so indefinite and vague were men's ideas as to the locality of the kingdom of death in the time of Homer, and so undeveloped were their conceptions as to the lives of departed souls. The lower world appears as a desolate, dismal region, where departed spirits lead a shadowy, dreamy existence, to reach which is no happiness. There is no difference in their lots; for we as yet hear nothing of the judgment of the dead. The Elysian fields, to which the special favourites of the gods were transferred, form no part of the lower world in Homer, but were supposed to lie in an entirely distinct region in the far West

(the isles of the blest). Later on, the outlines of the lower

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

149

world "become more clearly defined. It was now supposedto be

a regionin the centreof the earth,with several passages and to

from the upper world. Through it flowed several rivers-

Cocytus, Pyriphlegethon, Acheron, and Styx. The last of these encompassed lowerworld severaltimes, and could only be thecrossedby the aid of Charon, the ferryman, who was depicted as a sullen old man with a bristling beard. The Greeks there-

foreusedto placean obolus (small copper coin) in the mouths

of their dead, in order that the soul might not be turned back by Charon for lack of money. On the farther side of the river

the portalswerewatchedby the dreadful hell-hound Cerberus,

a three-headed monster, who refused no one entrance, but

allowednoneto leavethe houseof Pluto. All souls, reaching on

the lower world, had to appear before the tribunal of Minos,

Ehadamanthus, ^Eacus. Thosewhose and lives hadbeen upright

were then permitted to enter Elysium, where they led a life of uninterrupted bliss; whilst thosewho on earth had beencriminal and wicked were consigned to Tartarus, where they were tormented by the Furies and other evil spirits. Thosewhose lives had not been distinctly good or bad remained in the asphodel meadow, where as dim shadowsthey passeda dull, joyless existence. The punishments of great criminals in the infernal regionswere a fruitful theme for the imagination of the poets. The most celebrated criminals were Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and the Danaids. We have said that the idea of the judgment of the dead is not found in the earliest legends. Hence we must expect to find, in some cases,that the crimes supposedto have drawn down the wrath of the gods were either later inventions, or had very little connection with the punishment inflicted. Thus to take the caseof Tantalus, the original idea appears to have been the burning sun looking upon sweet fruits and streams of water, and drying them up instead of being able to enjoy them. It is possible that another part of the legend, the

offeringof his childrenfor the godsof heavento eat, mayhave

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a similar origin. So the story of Sisyphus seemsto point to the sun daily toiling up the steep hill of heaven, yet ever ohliged to recommence his weary task. So the name Ixion seemsto be derived from a word meaning wheel, and to be yet another allusion to the orb of day. As men beganto forget the reality underlying these words, and to think that some real person sufferedthesewoes, it was only natural that they should try to find a reason. Generally, perhaps always, some point in the story could be twisted into a crime deservingof punishment

(compare legend of GEdipus). The punishmentof Tityus, the

whq had offered violence to Leto, consisted in being chained to the earth, whilst two vultures continually gnawed at his ever-

growingliver. Tantalus, ancestor the Atridas,Agamemthe of

non and Menelaus,had been deemed worthy to hold intercourse

with the gods,until he thought fit to put their omniscience to the test by setting before them the flesh of his son Pelops.This crime he was condemnedto expiate by the torments of continual hunger and thirst. Above his head were suspendedthe most beautiful fruits; but when he attempted to snatch them, a

gustof wind blew them beyondhis reach. At his feet flowed

a stream of the purest water; but when he tried to quench his

thirst, it suddenly vanished into theground. Sisyphus, formerly king of Corinth, had provokedthe wrath of the gods by hisnumerous crimes,and was condemned, in consequence, roll a to

block of stoneup a high mountain,which, on reaching top, the always rolleddownagainto the plain. Ixion, a not lessinsolentoffender, was bound hand and foot to an ever-revolving wheel. Lastly, the Danaids, or daughters of Danaus, who, at their

father's command, had slain their husbandson the wedding

night, were condemned to pour water continually into a cask full of holes, which could never be filled.

18. The Erinyes (Fnrise).-The Erinyes, or Furies,were

denizens of the lower world, who executed the commands of Hades and Persephone. They were ultimately three in number,

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

151

and their nameswere Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera; and this number, like that of the Graces, the Fates, and others, is due to the fact that the Greeksexpressedany undefined number by the sacrednumeral three. In their original signification they appear as the avengersof every violation, either on the part of gods or men,of the moral laws of the universe. When, at a later period, the idea of an avenging Nemesis had become more and more

developed, significance the Erinyes diminished,and their the of

avenging duties were confined to the family. As the inexorable pursuers of every injury done to the sacred ties of blood-especially the murder of kindred-they received a much greater degree of attention at the hands of the Greek tragic poets, by whom they were frequently brought on the stage. The pictmes thus drawn of the relentless activity of the Erinyes are both powerful and striking. Nothing can equal the keen scent with which they trace the crime, or the untiring speed with which they pursue the criminal. As a symbol of this latter quality, the poets have endowed them with brazen feet. Their appearance is wan and Gorgon-like; wild lust for blood is written in their features, and the serpents which twine round their heads in the place of hair deal out destruction and death on their unhappy victims. Flight avails them nought, for there is no region whither the avenging Furies cannot follow, no distance that they cannot compass. With torch swung on high they dog the steps of the unhappy wretch, like swift huntresses following in the track of their hard-pressed game, and never rest until they have driven him to madnessand death. What, then, was the origin of the belief in these dreadful beings'? Two explanations have been given, and in eacli case we shall seein them the powers of nature. Whether we are to

look uponthem as the storm-clouds darting lightnings upon the criminal,or asthe bright dawnrising overthe earthandpointing out his hiding-place, must recognise idea of the punishwe thement of sin, indicted by the powers of heaven. If, as seems

most probable(cf. the genealogy given them by uEschylus and

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

Sophocles),-weare to take the latter explanation, we shall have some reason for the names of " kindly" and " venerable,"

appliedto them by the Greeks, partly, no doubt, owing to the

ancient custom of avoiding words of ill-omen. Yet poetical mythology treated this as a transformation of their nature, and associated with a specialevent, namely, the institution of the it

Areopagus Athens, and the purification of the matricide at

Oresteseffectedby this venerable court. The story relates that Orestes, after having slain liis mother Clytoemnestra and her infamous paramour ^Egisthus, in revenge for the murder of his father Agamemnon, wandered for a long time about the earth in a state bordering on madness,owing to the persecutionof the Erinyes. At length, however, he was befriended by Apollo and Athene, the kindly deities of the luminous ^Ether. Apollo first purified him before his own altar at Delphi, and then defended him before the court of the Areopagus,which had been founded

by Athene. Orestes here acquitted,for Athene,when the was

votes for and against him were equal, declared that then andin all future time the criminal should have the benefit of the

doubt. The Furies, indeed, were at first very wroth, and threatened the land with barrenness both of women and soil; but Athene succeededin pacifying them, by promising that a

shrineshouldbe erected them on the hill of the Areopagus. to

After they had taken possessionof this sanctuary, they were thenceforth venerated by the Athenians, under the names of

Semnae (venerable), Eumenides or (benevolent),as propitious

deities who, though they still continued to punish crimes, were

ever readyto grant mercyto the repentant sinner,and to give

succour to all good men.

Thereweredifferenttraditions concerning the origin of the

Erinyes. According to Hesiod, they owed their existenceto the

first execrable crime committed since the beginning of the world, for they were the daughtersof Earth, and sprangfrom the dropsof blood that fell from the mangled body of Uranus. They here appear,therefore,as an embodiment the curses of

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

153

winch the angryfather invoked on the head of his unnatural son. Sophocles, the otherhand,calls them the daughters on of G&a and Scotos(darknessof night). .ZEschylus simply terms them the daughters the Night. Besides shrinein Athens of the already mentioned, they had another near the city, a sacred grovein Colonus, which wascelebrated the last refuge of the as unfortunate CEdipus. In Athens they had an annual festival,at which libations of milk and honey were made to them. In art the Erinyes are represented swift huntresses, as armed with spear, bow, andquiver. Torches, scourges, snakeswere also put in ortheir hands. They were, moreover, provided with wings on theirshoulders or head as a token of their swiftness.

19. Hecate.-Among the mystic deities of the lower world we must not omit to mention Hecate. By the liomans, indeed, she was never publicly venerated, though she was not exactly unknown to them. Common tradition made her a daughter of the Titan Perseusand Asteria. She ruled principally over the secretforces of Nature, which perhaps explains the spectral and awe-inspiring form which this goddess assumed. She was supposedto preside over all nocturnal horrors, and not only to haunt the tombs and cross-roadsherself in company with the spirits of the dead, but also to send nightly phantoms from the lower world, such as the man-eating spectre Empusa, and other fabulous goblins.

As her name seemsto signify, Hecate (far-striking) was

originally a moon-goddess, like either Artemis or Selene,but not representing the new moon in its invisible phase. The ancients not being able to account for the different phases of the moon, naturally came to the conclusion that, when invisible, it was

tarrying in the lowerworld. The public worshipof the goddess

was not very extensive, but her importance in connection with the mysteries was all the greater. Men were wont to affix small

pictures her to houses city gates, of and which weresupposed to

prevent any bad spells from affecting the town or house. On

the last day of everymonth her imageon the housedoorswas

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

crownedwith garlands,and viands were set before it in her

honour, which were afterwards eaten by the poor, and termed the meals of Hecate. Wooden imagesof the goddess with three

faces weregenerallyset up wherethreeroads met, andheredogs

were sacrificedto her as sin-offerings for the dead. This usually took placeon the thirtieth day after death. As in the caseof other infernal deities, black lambs were sacrificed to her, besides libations of milk and honey. Hecate was generally representedas three-formed (triformis), wliich probably has someconnection witli the appearance the offull, half, and new moon. In order to explain more clearly the nature of such a representation,after a bronze statuette in the

we give an engraving (Fig. 47)

Capitoline Museum at Rome. The figure facing us holds in her hands a key and a rope, which point her out as the portress of the lower world ; over her brow is a disc, representing, probably, the dark surface of the new moon. The figure on the right holds in either hand a torch, in virtue of her character as a mystic goddess, whilst onher brow is a half-moon and a

lotus-flower. Lastly, the third figure bears, as a symbol of the full moon, a Phrygian -cap with a radiant diadem fastened on it, wliich #ives forth seven rays; in

her right hand is a knife, in. her

lelt the tail of a serpent, of which no satisfactory interpretation has Fig.47.-Three-formed Hecate. Capitolinehitherto been discovered.Museum.

20. Sleep and Death.-Sleep and Death were conceivedby the ancients as twin brothers. According to Hesiod, they were children of Night alone. They dwelt in the lower world, whence they visited the earth to steal over mortals; the former a kindly benevolent spirit, the latter grim and cruel. Apart from this

The Godsof the Earth and Lower World.

1^5

conception, which, was especially developed by later poets and artists, Death was sometimes depicted as quite distinct from Sleep, and in a still less amiable guise. The different forms of vijlent death were personified as female deities of formidable aspect, called the Ceres; or Apollo and Artemis among the inhabitants of heaven,and Pluto and Persephoneamong those of the lower world, were represented,as the deities of death. The Romans had a personal god of death, whom they called Orcus; he was represented as an armed warrior dealing out mortal wounds among mankind. But none of these special gods of death had any great importance, either in religion or art. Artists, indeed, laboured sedulously to dimmish the dreadful

appearance Thanatus(death),and to render him more and of morelike his brother Hypnus (sleep).Thanatus and Hypnus often appear in company,either sleepingor standing; the former usually bears a reversed torch, the latter

a poppy-stalkor a horn, out of which he is pouring some liquid. They areboth generallyrepresented the bloom of youth. In Fig. in 34, which is after a drawing of AsmusCarstens, they appear the aschildren of Night, and are here brought into immediate connection with the other powers, Nemesis and the Parcse, who control thedestinies of man.

BesidesSleep and Death, Hesiod also mentions Dreams as the children of Night. Other writers, however, call them the sons of Sleep, who dwell in the far West, close to the realms of Hades. This house of dreams has, in Homer's well-known description, two gates-one of ivory, through which passflattering, deceptive dreams, and one of horn, whence the true dreams proceed. Morpheus was made the special god of dreamsby the poets, and termed the son of Hypnus.IT.--EOMAN DEITIES OF THE HOUSE AND

FAMILY.

Before passing to the heroic legends, some remarks are neci.*3-

saryconcerning inferior deities,whoplayedsuchanimportant the part in the domestic worship of the Eomans. We havealready

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

incidentally remarked that the people of Italy generally passed by the greater gods of the heaven and earth in anxious awe. Their invocation and adoration was left to public worship, whilst, in their less important domestic concerns,,men had recourseto certain inferior deities, whom they thought nearer to them; just as in the present day, in Italy, the common people prefer to communicate their prayers and wishes to their patron saints rather than to the Almighty himself. 1. The Penates.-The Penates were the kindly domestic deities of the Romans-the guardians of the household, who especiallyprovided for its daily wants. Of their name,number, and sex nothing is known-not becausethe facts have been lost to us, but becausethe Romans themselves were content

with this indefinite conception. Similar goodspirits, exerting an activeinfluence the household, in wererecognised popular by Germansuperstition,without experiencingany necessityofhaving distinct namesfor them. The shrine of the Penatesconsisted of the hearth, the central point of the house, which not

only served the preparation meals, wasalsoespecially for of but

dedicated to religious purposes. It stood in the "atrium," the only large room in the Eoman house,where the family met for meals and received visitors. On the hearth, a fire was continually kept burning in honour of.Yesta and the Penates. Around it, after the introduction of images of the gods, were

placedthe statues the Penates. Theseweregenerally of small and puppet-like, and, among the poorer classes, were onlyroughly cut out of wood. There was no domestic occurrence, either of joy or mourning, in which the Penates did not take

part. Like the Lares,of whom we shall speakpresently,they

participated in the daily meal, portions being set on certain

plates for that purposebefore the images. There were also StatePenates, ancients the regarding state asnothingbut an theextended family.the hearth

The temple of Yesta was to the state what

Here was the seat of their

was to the household.

Roman Deities of the House and Family.

157

worship,and here it was that the Roman Pontifex Maxiinus broughtthose offerings which, in private households, were the part of the headof the family. In the innermostsanctuary of the templeof Yestathere werestatues thesePenates, great of of sanctity,since^Eneas reportedto have "brought was them with. him from Troy. "We have no trustworthy information as totheir number or appearance, for, with the exception of the Pontifex and the Vestal Yirgins, none ever entered the holy

place. It is scarcely necessary add that theywerebelieved to to

exercise an especial influence on the welfare and prosperity of the state and people of Rome. 2. The Lares.-The Lares, like the Penates, were the tutelary deities of the house and family, and on that account often confounded with them. They were commonly supposed to be the glorified spirits of ancestors,who, as guardian deities, strove to promote the welfare of the family. The seat of their worship was also the family hearth in the atrium, where their images of wood or wax were generally preserved in a separate

shrineof their own (Lararium). The Laresreceived especial an degree veneration the first day of everymonth; but, like of onthe Penates, they took part in all the domestic occurrences, whether of joy or sorrow. Like the Penates, they also received their share at every meal on particular dishes, and were crowned with garlands on the occasionof every family rejoicing. When

a son assumed toga virilis (cameof age),he dedicated the his

lulla* to the Lares, amid prayers and libations and burning of incense. When the father of the house started on a journey or returned in safety, the Lares were again addressed, and their statuescrowned with wreaths, flowers and garlands being their favourite offerings. The sameconception which pervadesthe domestic Lares may beperceivedin a more extensive form in the Lares of the Gens,the* A gold or silver ornament, like a medal, which was worn round the ucck during childhood.

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

The Lares do not appear, in fact, to

city, and the state itself.

havediffered in many respects from the heroes worshipped "by

the Greeks. At all events, Komulus and Remus, the mythical

founders thecity, wereregarded its Lares,and,in thetime of of as Augustus, geniusof the emperor the wasassociated them. with 3. Larvae, Lemures, and Manes.-Just as the Lares were regarded the good and happy spirits of ancestors, as the souls of otherswere supposed wanderabout in the guiseof toevil demons and spectres, giving rise to weird terrors, and

castingbad spellson the senses thosewhom they met. Such of was especiallybelievedto be the fate of those who had notreceived burial, or in whose case the prescribed ceremonieshad been neglected,and who being, in consequence, unable to find rest, were doomed to flit about the earth. Such spirits were called Larvae, or Lenmres. The propitiatory festival of the Lemuria, or Lemuralia, which was said to have been instituted

in memory the murderedE,emus, celebrated of was annuallyin their honouron the 9th, llth, and 13th of May. Every paterfamilias was supposed during these days to perform certain midnight ceremonies, and to repeat certain forms, which had the effect of banishing any evil spirits. In contrast to the Lares and Larvse, the souls of the dead

were also commonly venerated as Manes, or good spirits.

These were believed after burial to have been converted into

beings of a higher order, who dwelt, indeed, in the interior of the earth, but exercised, notwithstanding, a considerable in-

fluenceon the affairsof the upper world. It was possibleto

summon them from the lower world by means of sacrifices. A

general festival of the dead took placein February,whenthe

Manes were propitiated with offerings and libations. These offerings were placed on the tombs of the deceased,and, of course,varied extremely, according to the meansof the donors.

PART

III.-THE

HEROES.

I-INTRODUCTORY.

ONpassing with which we world moreactothat mythology, "becomein ahave already rich still marvels than heroicquainted presentsitself to our view. The greater extent of this department of mythic lore is easily comprehensible,if we take into consideration the multitude of separate existences Into which Greek life was split up, even from the earliest times. Each of the numberless countries, islands, cities, and towns endeavoured to trace back its peculiar institutions to mythical founders and ancestors; and as these were always described either as the sons or as the favourites of the gods, there accordingly sprang up, in course of time, a vast number of local heroic legends. These fabulous founders of states, however, were not the only heroes of Greek mythology. The attempt to

piercethe cloudsof obscuritywhich enveloped early history the

of mankind, and the desire of a more enlightened age to bridge over the intervening gulf, and nil it with beings who should

form a connecting betweenthe sublime forms of the great link

inhabitants of Olympus and the puny race of mortals, naturally gave rise to a whole seriesof heroic legends. These were partly the property of entire nationalities, or even of the whole Hellenic

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

race,and partly of a local or provincial character. Moreover, as the gods collectively were divided into gods proper and dasmons-that is to say, spirits resembling the gods,but inferior to them in wisdom and power, whose workings men saw in airand earth and sea-even so the race of mortals was divided into

heroes and men, between whom a similar difference subsisted. The latter are, in their nature, not different from the formerboth are alike mortal, and must at length fall a prey to inexorable death. Eut the heroes are endowed with a degree of

physical strength and dexterity, courage and endurance under

difficulties, such as never fall to the lot of ordinary men. It was not, however, by any means all who lived in this early mythical period who were accounted heroes; but, just as inGenesis vi. 2 a distinction is made between the " sons of God "

and the "daughters of men," so in the present instance the heroes were the mighty ones-the ruling spirits of the agethose whose marvellous exploits contributed to remove the obstacles to civilisation and culture, who delivered countries from cruel robbers and savage beasts, who drained marshes, made roads through untrodden forests, and regulated the course of rivers. By their actions they proved themselves men of no ordinary powers, endowed with divine strength, and, therefore,

apparentlyof divine origin. It appeared, least, that such at

beings must have had an origin different from that of ordinary men, who were made out of clay, or sprang from trees or stones. Some of these heroes may perhaps have had a real existence, having probably been the ancestorsof the later dominant races, to whom a dim tradition reached. Others were undoubtedly a

product of the imagination. To these may be addeda third

class,and this is by far the most numerous,including those who were originally personifications of various natural phenomena,

and.as such,deifiedand venerated local formsof worship, in but

who were later, in consequence the birth of new political comof munities, expelled from their place in public worship, and only continued to exist in the popular faith in the inferior character

The Heroes.

161

of heroes. Many suchheroes were afterwards again promoted to

therank of gods,thoughwith an alteredmeaning (e.g.,Heracles). Any real veneration of heroesby prayers and sacrifices can scarcelybe said to have existed before the migration of theHeraclidae-at least there is no mention of it in Homer. Even

later, exceptin the caseof thoseheroes who wereraisedto the

rank of gods for their great deeds, and who were, therefore, worshipped in temples of their own, the worship of heroes Is scarcely to be distinguished from that of the dead. Homermakes no distinction between the fate of heroes after death and

that of ordinary mortals, all being doomed alike to the gloomy realms of Hades. As we have already observed, it was only certain special favourites, or sons of Zeus, who were excepted from this gloomy lot, and were transported in their bodily shape to the Isles of the Blest. Hesiod, on the other hand, says that all heroes-whom he, in the first instance, terms demi-godswere transported to the Isles of the Blest, where Cronus ruled over them. Here, for the first time, the idea of a just retribution in the other world takes a definite shape; for Hesiod obviously conceivesa residencein Elysium to be the reward of meritorious actions performed in the upper world. This idea was subsequently more fully developed, especially in the mysteries, and men were gradually elevated to a belief in the immortality of

the soul. The spirits of the deadwerebelieved, evenafter they

were in their graves,to exert continually a mysterious influence; on which account men strove to gain their favour by means of offerings, thereby removing every real distinction between the worship of heroesand that of the dead.

Amid the multitude of legendsof this kind, we shall only dwell upon thosewhich occupya prominent position either in poetryor in art. We shall begin with those which relate tothe creation and early civilisation of mankind, after which we

shall passto the most celebrated provincial legends, and concludewith thosethat refer to the moreimportant of the commonundertakings of the later heroic age.

162II-THE

Greek and Roman Mythology.

CKEATIONOF

AND

PRIMITIVE

CONDITION

MANKIND.

The legendsconcerningthe origin of the humanrace differ

yery widely. The most ancient are undoubtedly those which describe men as springing from the trees or rocks. Another

tradition asserts that thehumanracewasof later growth,having been first calledinto existence Zeus the godsof Olympus. by andA third account makes the Titan Prometheus,the son of lapetus, the creator of mankind, but leaves it uncertain whether this

took placebeforeor after the flood of Deucalion. Prometheus,

according to this account, made men of clay and water, afterwhich Athene breathed a soul into them. There were likewise

various accountsconcerningthe primeval condition of mankind.

According one,thehumanraceraised to itself, with the assistance of the gods,from a state of helplessbarbarism: this progresswas the subject of numerous legends. Another account represents men as living originally in a holy and happy communion

with the gods(thegolden age),andasserts that they first became savage after havinglost this goodfortuneby their presumption.Of the myths that relate to the introduction of the fir^t elements of civilisation among mankind by divine aid, there is none, except those already mentioned concerning Dionysus and Demeter, more celebratedthan the story of Prometheus. The Titan lapetus had, by Clymene, the daughter of Oceanus,four sons-the stout-heartedAtlas, the presumptuous Menoetius,the

craftyPrometheus, the foolishEpimetheus. With the name and

of Prometheus is linked the idea of the first commencement of

civilisation among mankind by the introduction of fire. Prometheus is said to have stolen fire from heaven, and to have

taughtits useto man. By beingemployed all the common for purposes daily life, however, this pure celestial element ofbecame polluted; whereupon Zeus visited the author of this sacrilegewith a fearful punishment. He ordered Prometheusto be chained to a rock, where, during the day-time, an eagle

Creation and Primitive Condition of Mankind.

163

devouredhis liver (the seatof all evil desires), which always grew againduring the night.It is very difficult to see the origin of this series of legends, but the foundation seems to be the discovery of fire by man.

At any rate,oneword, closelyresembling namePrometheus, the appears India asthe nameof the stick usedto produce by in firefriction. If this be the case, we shall see in parts of the Greek

legendinstances the ever-recurring of principle, that whenthe

real derivation of a word is lost, men try to give it an explanation

by attaching it to the nearestword in the existing language (cf. the derivationof Panmentioned 130). When the notion p.of " forethought" had once been attached to his name, it would be natural to invent a complementary legend about his brother

Epimetheus (afterthought). The legendof Prometheusappears its grandestform in in ^Eschylus' play, "PrometheusBound."The idea that, together with the introduction of civilisation, many evils which were before unknown to man came into existence, is expressed in the myth of Pandora. Zeus determined to leave mankind in possessionof Prometheus' gift; but he ordered Hephaestus make an image of a beautiful woman, to which the gods then endowed with life and adorned with all kinds of gifts, whence she was called Pandora. Aphrodite bestowed on her the seductive charms that kindle love, Athene instructed her in every art, Hermes endued her with a smooth tongue and a crafty disposition, whilst the Seasonsand Gracesadorned her with flowers and fine dresses. Zeus then sent

her, under the guidanceof Hermes,to the foolish Epimetheus, who, in spite of the warningof his brother not to acceptanypresent from Zeus, received Pandora and made her his wife. There was in the house of Epimetheus a closedjar, which he had been forbidden to open, and which contained all kinds of

diseases ills. Pandora and removed coverandtheseescaped, the

and men who had before been free from disease and care haye

eversincebeentormented. Pandoraclosedthe jar in time to

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

keep in Hope. Thus both Greek legend and Biblical tradition alike representwoman as the first causeof evil and death. The legend of the five ages of mankind transports us to quite another region of tradition. According to this, the gods first created a golden race of men, who lived free from care and sorrow, while the earth, of its own accord, furnished them with all that was necessaryto support life. Subject neither to the infirmities of agenor to the pangs of sickness and disease,men at last sank peacefully, as into a sweet sleep,to death. In what manner the golden age disappearedis not related; we are only told that this race, notwithstanding its disappearance, still continues to exist in the upper world, in the shape of good spirits, who guard and protect mortals. After this, the gods created a second(silver) race of men, who were, however, far inferior to their predecessors, both in mind and body. They passed their . time in idle and effeminatepursuits, and refused to pay the gods due honours. Zeus, in his wrath, thereupon blotted them out from the face of the earth, and createdthe third (brazen) race of mankind out of ash wood. This race proved headstrong and violent. They were of giant stature and great strength, and took pleasure in nothing but battle and strife. Their weapons, houses,and utensils were of bronze, iron not yet being known. Zeus was not compelled to destroy this evil race, since they destroyedthemselves in their bloodthirsty strife. According to another account, they were destroyed by the Hood of Deucalion. Deucalion appears to have been a son of Prometheus,while

his wife Pyrrhawasthe daughterof Epimetheusand Pandora.

Zeus having determined to destroy the corrupt race of the third or bronze ageby a flood, Prometheus warned his son, who built himself an ark, into which he retired with his wife when the waters beganto rise. Nine days and nights he was tossed on the waters; at length bis vesselrested on Mount Parnassusin Boeotia, He disembarked,and immediately offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Zeus the preserver. Pleased at his gratitude, Zeus granted his prayer for the restoration of the human race; and Deu-

Provincial Heroic Legends.

165

calion and Pyrrha were commandedby Hermes to cast stones behind them, from which sprang a new race of men. Such Is the

legend its mostancientform; later writers engrafted it still in on

further incidents of Biblical tradition, until at last the Greek Noah

wasrepresented havingtakenliving animalswith him into the as

ark, and as having let loose a dove after his landing on ParnassuaIII.-PROVINCIAL HEROIC LEGENDS.

1. The Lapithse and the Centaurs.-We shall commencewith the Thessalian legend of the Lapithae and Centaurs,

on account its greatantiquity and its importance sculpture. of in

We read in the Plomeric poems how the hoary Nestor on one

occasion boastsof having, in his youngerdays,taken part with

his friends Pirithous and Casneus, and the other princes of the

Lapithx, in their contest with the savage Centaurs. In Homer's

account the Centaurs are merely depicted as an old Thessalian mountain tribe of giant strength and savage ferocity, utterly unable to control their rude; sensualnature. Nor do we find here any mention of their being half horses and half men; they are merely said to have inhabited the mountain districts of OEta and Pelion, in Thessaly, and to have been driven thence by the

Lapithae the highermountain-lands Pindus. into of

Their contest with the Lapithae is sometimes conceived as a

symbolof the struggle Greekcivilisation with the still existing of

barbarism of the early Pelasgian period. This may bethe reason why Greek art, when in its bloom, devoted itself so especially to this subject. The origin of this contest is referred to the mar-

riagefeast of Pirithous and Plippodarnia, which the principal to

Centaurs had been invited. On this occasion the Centaur

Eurytion, heated with wine, attempted carry off thebride; this to

gave rise to a contest which, after dreadful losses on both sides, ended in the complete defeat of the Centaurs. The Centaurs, however, since they were thus able to sit with the Lapithoe at

meat,must have beenendowed with purely humanforms.

166

Greek and Roman Mythology.

Theseus Nestor, friends of Piilthoiis, both took part in and the

the battle. Another prominent warrior wasthe gigantic Cseneus (Slayer), who had been rendered invulnerable by Poseidon, but whom the Centaurs slew on this occasion by burying himbeneath a mass of trees and rocks.

There is, however, also a natural explanation of the tales of these strangebeings. The father of the Centaurs is Ixion, who, as we have already seen,may be interpreted to be the sun. The crime said to have been the causeof his punishment washis love for Hera (the goddess of the atmosphere). If we take these points, together with the legend that Ixion begat the Centaurs of Nephele,the cloud, we may be preparedto seein the horse-formed Centaursa parallel to the cows of the sun, the bright cloudswhich passover the sky. There is the more ground for this, as similar beingsappearin Indian mythology, and their namehas,with much probability, been identified with that of the Centaurs. As we have alreadymentioned, the Centaurs play an important part in art. The customof depicting them as half horse and halfman came into

vogue after the time of Pindar, and was quickly adopted in sculpture. In

"II1 therepresentations ilof earlier art the face of a man is

joined to the body

and hind legs of ahorse. But in ita

Pig. 48.-Metope

of the Parthenon.

higher stage of development,after the time of Phidias,this was replaced by a more elegant conception, and the body of a man from the navel upwards Wa9 j0jne^ to t\lQSuch is their

complete of ahorse, thattheCentaurs thisperiodf the body so of have

four feet of a horse and the hands and arms of a man.

appearance numerousextant art monuments, which we shall on of

mention the most important.

Provincial

Heroic Legends.

167

In the first place, there are the reliefs from the frieze of theTheseum at Athens. This temple, which is still in a good state of preservation, was converted during the middle ages into a chapel of St. George. It is supposed to have been built at the instance of Cimon, after he had brought back the bones of the Attic hero from Scyros. Besides other important pieces, which we shall mention hereafter, the temple has, on its western or hinder frieze, a representation of the contests of the Centaurs and Lapithse at the wedding of Pirithoiis, donein Parian marble. It is executed in such a manner that it is impossible to discover which party will get the upper hand ; and this has enabled the artist, whose name has not come down to us, to introduce a lively variety into the different scenesof the combat. We have another series of most splendid representations from the battle of the Centaurs, full of life and spirit, on some dilapidated metope** of the Parthenon at Athens. This splendid specimen of Doric architecture is 227 feet in length and 101 feet in breadth. It

Fig, 49.-From the Frieze of the Temple at Bassae.

was ruined in 1687, during the war between the Venetians and Turks, by a shell which broke through the midst of the marble roof.number of the most beautiful and life-like scenes from the battle

A large part of the ninety-two metopes the outer frieze contain a of of the Giants and that of the Centaurs. Of thesemetopes, thirtynine still remain on the temple, though they are all in a terriblymutilated condition ; seventeen are in the British Museum, and one in the best state of preservation ; these are seventeen in number, the support the gable, every one of which is generally adorned with a separate sculpture in relief.

in the Louvre at Paris. Thosefrom the southside arecomparatively * The squares between triglyphs of the friezewhichareintendedto the

168

Greekand Roman Mythology.

Here

whole number on the south side having been thirty-two. They

represent, exclusively, scenesfrom the battle of the Centaurs.

a beardedCentaur is carrying off a woman,whom he holds in his powerful grasp;there, anotheris gallopingawayover the body of his tallen enemy; another is engaged a tiercecontestwith a human in foe; whilst a fourth lies slain on the field. The engravingwe append may give a faint idea of the beauty and bold designof this splendid creation(Fig. 48). To thesegrand monumentsof Greekart we mustadd the 1'rieze of the temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassos,near Phigalia in Arcadia, which was discovered in 1812, and is now in the British Museum. It represents, likewise, a series of the most vivid scenes from the battle of the Lapithae and Centaurs. In the indi-

vidual groups and scenesof the battle, which is here completed beforeour eyes,there is the samevariety and animation, so that we

mustascribe to some it greatartist (Fig."49).

Besides thesesculptures relief, somesplendid single statuesof in

Among these, the

Centaurs have come down to us from, antiquity.

first place must be assigned the two Centaursin the Capitoline to Museum. They are executedin black marble, and were found in the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli, where so many ancient art treasures have beenbrought to light. Among the Centaurs, Chiron, who was famous alike for his wisdom and his knowledge of medicine, deservesmention as the

preceptor many of the heroes antiquity. of of

Sofar superior

was he to his savagekindred, both in education and manners, that he was commonly reported to have had a different origin, and was therefore described as a son of Cronus and Philyra,

or Phyllira, one of the Oceanids. Homer,who knew nothing

of the equine shape of the Centaurs, representshim as the most

upright of the Centaurs, makes and him the friend of Peleusand the preceptorof the youthful Achilles,whom lie instructedinthe art of healing and gymnastic exercises. He was?moreover,

related to both theseheroes, daughterEndeishavingbeen Ms

the mother of Peleus. Subsequently, other mythical heroes were added to the number of his pupils, such as Castor and

Polydeuces, Theseus, JSTestor, Meleager, Diomedes. Music, and too, wasnow represented a subjectof his instruction,though as this is perhaps due to a misinterpretationof the name of his

Provincial Heroic Legends.

169

Fig. 50.-Centaur

teaching a Boy to play upon the Pipe.

Relief by Kundmann.

mother. He inhabited a cave on Mount Pelion; later mythology, however, transferred his residence, after the Centaurs had been driven from Pelion by the Lapithse, to the promontory of Malea. Here, by an unlucky accident, he was wounded with a poisoned arrow by his friend Heracles, and, the wound

170Prometheus. The

Greek and Roman Mythology.

"beingincuiable, he yoluntarily choseto die in the place of

idea of the connection of the Centaurs with the arts and

sciences originatedin the story of Chiron and Achilles, and has since furnishedmodernart with the subjectsfor some its most valuable of works. Fig. 50 representsa Centaur teaching a boy to play on the flute, and is after an alto-relievoof the Viennese sculptorKundmann.

2. Tlieban Legend.-1. Cadmus.-Among Theban legends, none is more celebrated tlian the founding of Thebesby Cadmus. Cadmus was a son of the Phoenician king Agenor. After Zeus carried off his sister Europa to Crete (vide the Cretan

Legends), was despatched his father in searchof her. lie by

Accompanied by his mother Telephassa, he came to Thrace and thence to Delphi, where he was commandedby the oracle to relinquish his quest. It further ordered him to follow a young heifer with the mark of a crescenton either side, and to build a town on the place where the heifer should lie down. Cadmus obeyed, and, finding the heifer in Phocis, he followed her. She led him into Boeotia,and at length lay down on a rising ground. On this spot Cadmus founded a town, which he called Cadmea, after himself, though he had first to experience a perilous adventure. Before sacrificing the heifer, he sent some of his companions to fetch water from a neighbouring spring, where they were slain by a dragon belonging to Ares which guarded the spring. Cadmus then went himself, and slew the dragon, the teeth of which he sowed in the ground by the advice of Pallas. Hereupon,armed men sprang from the ground; they immediately turned their arms against each other, and were all slain, except five. Cadmus built his new town with the assistance of these men, who thus becamethe ancestorsof the noble families of Thebes. In expiation of the dragon's death, Cadmus was obliged to do service to Ares for eight years. At the end

Provincial Heroic Legends.

After reigning for a long time at Thebes,Cadmuswas compelled in his old age to retire to the Enchelians in Illyria; but whether he was driven out by Amphion and Zethus (who

appearin Homer asthe foundersof Thebes)or withdrew from

some other cause is not manifest. He and his wife were after-

wards changedinto serpents,and transferred, by the command of Zeus, to the Elysian fields. In this story we see another form of the combat of the hero with the monster, and can probably give it the sameexplanation. The dragon guards the waters, and the hero, by killing it, freesthem. Do we not see in this the combat of the sun with the

cloud; and in the armed men who turn their weapons against one another, the clouds that seem fight with one another in the to thunderstorm 1 Yet even admitting this interpretation, it maybe that we have in the name of Cadmus an allusion to the

civilisation and the arts received by the Greeks from the East. So, too, with the alphabet, the invention of which Hellenictradition ascribed to him.

2. Actceon.-We have already incidentally mentioned the fortunes of three of the daughters of Cadmus-Ino, Semele,and

Agave. The eldest, Autonoe, married Aristseus,the son of Apollo, and became him the mother of Action. Actaeon bywas handed over to Chiron to be reared as a stout hunter and

warrior; but he had scarcely reached the prime of youth when

he was overtakenby a lamentablefate. Whilst hunting one day on Mount Cithoeron, was changedby Artemis into a hestag, and was torn in piecesby his own dogs. The causeof her anger was either that Actseon had boasted that he was a more

skilful hunterthan Artemis, or that ho had surprised virginthe

goddess bathing. The latter tradition ultimately prevailed, and,

172

Greekand Roman Mythology.

in later times, even the rock whence he beheldArtemiswaspointedout on the road between Megara and Platasa.He received heroic honours in Boeotia,

and his protectionwasinvokedagainst the deadly power of the sun in the

dog-days. The story of Actseon is probably nothing but a representation of the decayof verdant nature beneath an oppressivesummer heat.TheActaeon's

storytransfor-

of

mationwas

and death

a favourite

subject for sculpture. A small

marble group, representing Actseon

beating off two

dogs which are attacking him, was found in 1774, aud

is now preservedin the British

Museum(Fig. 51). 3. Am phi on

and Zethus.-Be-

sides the royal family of CadmUS, Fig. 5L-Act8Bon Group.British Museum. which was continued in Thebes after his departure by his son Polydorus, we come across the scions of another ruling family of Thebes which came from Hyria, or Hysia, in Boeotia, in the persons of Amphion and Zethus. Nycteus, king of Thebes, had a wonderfully beautiful daughter called Antiope, whosefavours Zeus enjoyed on approaching her in the form of a

Satyr. On becoming pregnant,shefled from the resentment of

Provincial Heroic Legends.

173

her father to Sicyon, where the king, Epopeus, received her and made her his wife. This enraged Nycteus, who made war on Epopeus in order to compel him to deliver up his daughter Antiope. He was obliged to retire without accomplishing his purpose, but, on his death, he entrusted the execution of his vengeanceto his brother Lycus, who succeededhim. Lycus defeated and slew Epopeus, destroyed Sicyon, and took Antiope back with him as prisoner. On the way, at Eleutherse on Cithseron, she gave birth to the twins Amphion and Zethus. These were immediately exposed, but were subsequently discoveredand brought up by a compassionateshepherd. Antiope was not only kept prisoner in the house of Lycus, but had also to submit to the most harsh and humiliating treatment at the hands of his wife Dirce. At length she managed to escape,and by a wonderful chancediscovered her two sons,who had grown, on lonely Cithseron, into sturdy youths. The story of her wrongs so enraged them that they resolved to wreak a cruel vengeance on Dirce. After having taken Thebes and slain Lycus, they bound Dirce to the horns of a wild bull, which dragged her about till she perished. According to another story, Dirce came to Cithajron to celebrate the festival of Bacchus. Here she found her runaway slave, whom she was about to punish by having her bound to the horns of a bull. Happily, however, Amphion and Zethus recognisedtheir mother, and inflicted on the cruel Dirce the punishment she had destined for another. Her mangled remains they cast into the springnear Thebes which bears her name.

The punishment of Dirce forms the subject of numerouspieces of sculpture. Tke most important among them is the Faniese Bull (Toro Farnese)in the museum at Naples (Fig. 52). This worldrenownedmarble group is supposed, with the exception of certain parts which have been restoredin modern times, to have beenthe work of the brothersApollonius and Tauriseus,of Tralles in Caria, Apollonius and Tauriseusbelongedto the Bhodian. school,whichM

174

and Roman Mythology.

Fig. 52.-Farnese

Bull.

Naples.

flourished in the third century B.C. This colossal group-undoubtedlythe largest which has descended us from antiquity-was to first erected Rhodes, came, in bttc during the reiga of Augustus,into the possession Asinius Pollio, the great art-patron. It was disof covered 1547in the Thermae Caracalla Rome,and wassetup in of at in the Palazzo Farnese. It wasthencetransferredto Naplesin 1786, as a portion of the Farneseinheritance. The following is a brief

Provincial Heroic Legends.

175

explanation of the group, though, of course, the most complete accountcould give but an imperfect idea of its beauty. The scene is laid on the rocky heights of Cithoeron. The position of the handsome youths on a rocky crag is as picturesqueas it is dangerous, and serves only to lend the group a pyramidal aspectpleasing to the not eye,but also to set before us their marvellous strength. There areseveral tokens that the occurrence took place during a Bacchic festival : the wicker cista tnystica in use at the festivals of Dionysus-the

fawn skin which Dirce wears-the ivy garland that has fallen at her feet-the broken thyrsus, and, lastly, the Bacchic insignia which distinguish the shepherdboy, who is sitting on the right watching the proceedings with painful interest-all point to this fact. The lyre which rests againstthe tree behind Amphion is a token of his well-known love of music. The female figure in the backgroundisAntiope.

The story goes on to relate that the two brothers, after the expulsion and death of Lycus, acquired the sovereignty of Thebes, though Amphion always figures as the real king. The

two brotherswerewidely differentin dispositionand character.

Zethus appears to have been rude and harsh, and passionately fond of the chase. Amphion, on the other hand, is represented as a friend of the Muses, and devoted to music and poetry. Pie soon had an opportunity of proving his wondrous skill when they began to enclose Thebes, which had been before unprotected, with walls and towers; for whilst Zethus removed great blocks and piled them one on another by means of his vast strength, Amphion had but to touch the strings of his lyre and break forth into some sweet melody, and the mighty stones moved of their own accord and obediently fitted themselves

together. This is why Amphion is alwaysrepresented sculpin ture with a lyre and Zethus with a club. We can scarcelydoubt that these Theban Dioscuri, like the Castor and Polydeucesof Sparta, who .arewell known to be only symbols of the morning and evening star, were originally personificationsof some

natural phenomenon; though we are no longerin a position to

say what it was.

176

Greekand RomanMythology.

Amphion is further celebrated accountof the melancholy on fate of his sonsand daughters. He marriedNiobe,the daughter of the Phrygianking Tantalus, sisterof Pelops. Greatwas and the happiness this marriage the godsseemed shower of ; to downtheir blessings on the royal pair. Many blooming and lovely

childrengrewup in their palace, pride and delight of their the happyparents. From this paradise purestjoy and happiness ofthey were soon to passinto a night of the deepestmourning and most cruel affliction through the presumption of Niobe-the same presumption which had led her father Tantalus to trifle with the gods and consummate his own ruin. The heart of Niobe was lifted up with pride at the number of her children,* and she ventured to prefer herself to Latona, who had only two; nay, she even went so far as to forbid the Thebans to offer sacrifice to Latona and her children, and to claim these honours herself. The vengeanceof the offended deities, however, now overtook her, and all her children were laid low in one day before the unerring arrows of Apollo and his sister. The parents did not survive this deep affliction. Amphion slew himself, and Mobe,

alreadyparalysed with grief, was turned into stoneby the pity of the gods, and transferredto her old Phrygian home on Mount Sipylus, thougheventhe stonehasnot ceased weep. toSuch is the substance of this beautiful legend, though its details vary considerably in the accounts of the poets and mythologists. The most circumstantial and richly-coloured account of it is containedin the Metamorphoses Ovid. The poets of* The number of Kiobe's children varies materially. Homer (II. xxiv.,

602)gives six sons as manydaughters. According Ilesiodand her and to

Pindar, she had ten sons and ten daughters; but the most common account, and that followed by the tragic poets, allows her fourteen children. Everywhere the number of sonsand daughtersappearsto be equal. The story of JSTiobe frequently treated of by the tragic poets,both jiEschylus was and Sophocles having written tragediesbearing her name.

Provincial Heroic Legends.

177

have continually striven to impose a purely ethical interpretation on the story, by representing the destruction of tlie children of Niobe as the consequence the great sin of their mother; but of it is more probably a physical meaning which lies at the root of the legend. It is, in fact, a picture of the melting of the snow before the hot scorching rays of the sun. This incident the fertile imagination of the Greeks portrayed in the most beautiful metaphors. Bui; just as a subject so purely tragic as the history of Niobe found its first true development in tragic poetry, so likewise it only attained its proper

placein sculptureafter art had laid asideits earlier and more

simple epic character, and set itself to depict, in their full force,

the inwardpassions the soul. This tendencytowardspathos of and effectis characteristic the age of Praxitelesand Scopus, ofand the later Attic school.

To this age(4th century B.C.) belongedthe group of Niobe, which

was so highly celebrated even among the ancients, and which was

seenby Pliny in the temple of Apollo Sosianus Borne,although at people even then hesitatedwhether to ascribe it to Praxiteles or Scopas. None but one of thesegreat masterscould have beenthe author of this tragedyhewn in stone. Although the original figures of this magnificent group have disappeared, yet copies of moatof them are still in existence. With regard to the celebrated

Florentine Niobe group, the dissimilarity of its treament and the various kinds of marble employed serve to show that it is not a Greekoriginal, but a Roman imitation. It was found at Rome in,1583, near the Latcran Church, and was purchased by CardinalMedicioi the

to adornUttizi.

his villa

on the

Monte

Pincio.

In

1775 it was

brought to Florence,where it has remainedsince1794in the gallery There has never been but one opinion as to the beauty of this group. First amongthe figures-not only in size, but alsoin artistic perfection-is that of Niobe herself. The unhappy queen, displays in her whole bearingso majestic and noble a demeanour, that, even if none of the other splendid results of Greek sculpture had come down to us, this alonewould bear ampletestimony to the high perfection and creativepower of Greekart. The following description of the arrangementof the group is taken from Liibke's History ofPlastic Art:-

178

Greekand Roman Mythology.

"Apollo and Artemis are to be supposedoutside the group; they have accomplished their work of vengeance and destruction from an invisible position in the heavens. This is denoted by each movementof the flying figures, who either gaze upwards in affright towards the heavens, seekto coverthemselves or with their garments. One of the sonsis already stretched deadon the earth ; anotherleans in mortal agonyagainsta rock, fixing his eyes,already glazedin death,on the spot whencedestructionhas overtakenhim. A third brother is striving in vain to protect with his robe his sister,who has fallen wounded at his feet, and to catch her in his arms;

anotherhas sunk on his knees,and clutches agony at the wound in in his back; whilst his preceptor is endeavouringto shield the

youngest boy. All the othersare fleeinginstinctivelyto their

mother, thinking, doubtless, that she who had sooften affordedprotection them could save also from the

avenging arrows of the gods. Thus from

either rush side towards the waves cen-

of this dreadiul flight

the

tre, to break on the sublime figure of Niobe as upon a rock. She

alone stands unshaken

in all her sorrow, mother and queen to the last. Clasping her youngest daughter, whose tender years have not preserved her, in her arms, and bending over asthough to shield the child, she

turns her own proud

head upwards, and,before -her left hand can cover her sorrowstricken face with her

robe, she casts towards the avenging goddess

a look in which bitter

grief is blended with

sublimedignity of soul (Fig. 54). In this look

Fig.54.-Niobe. Florence. there is neither defi-

Provincial Heroic Legends.

179

ance nor prayer for mercy, but a sorrowful and yet withal lofty expression heroicresignationto inexorable fate that is worthy of a of Niobe. This admirable figure, then, is pre-eminently the central point of the composition,sinceit expresses atonementwhich, in a an scene horror and annihilation, stirs the heart to the deepestsymofpathy."

Zethus was not more fortunate than Amphion in Ms domestic affairs. He married Aodon (nightingale), the daughter of Pandareos. Pandareoswas the friend and companion of Tantalus, for whom he stole a living dog made of brass frorn the temple of Zeus in Crete, and was on that account turned into stone. Aedon was jealous of the good-fortune of ISTiobe having so in many beautiful children; she herself having only one son,

Itylus. Sheresolved, night, to slaythe eldestsonof Mobe, one

but she killed, in mistake, her own child instead. Zeus took

compassion her, and changed into a nightingale. In this on her guiseshestill continues bewail her lossin long-drawn to mournful notes. Tradition says nothing as to the death of Zethus,

althoughthe common graveof the ThebanDioscuriwaspointed

out in Thebes. After his death, Laius, the son of Labdacus and grandson of Polydorus, restored in his person the race of

Cadmus the throneof Thebes. (Seethe legendof the Labdato

cidaslater on.)

3. Corinthian Legend.-1. Sisyphus.-Corinth, orEphyra, as it was formerly called, was said to have been founded by Siisyphus, sonof -ZEolus.Its inhabitants,on accountof the the .position of their city between two seas,were naturally inclined

to deify that element, it is not improbable and that Sisyphus was merelyan ancient symbol of the restless, ever-rollingwavesof the sea. This interpretation,however,is by no meanscertain; and the ideaof Sisyphusin the lower world everrolling a huge stone to the top of a mountainmight equally well refer to thesun, which, after attaining its highest point in the heavens at

the time of the summer solstice, glidesback again, only to begin

180

Greekand Roman Mythology.

its career anew on the shortest day. In any case,the rolling of the stone doesnot appear to have been originally a punishment. It was only later-after peoplehad becomefamiliar with the ideaof retribution in the lower world-that it assumed this character.

In order to account for it, a special crime had to be found for Sisyphus. According to some,he was punished at the instance of Zeus, becausehe had revealed to the river-god Asopus the

hiding-placeof his daughter^gina, whom Zeus had secretly

carried off from Phlius. According to another tradition, he used to attack travellers, and put them to death by crushing them with great stones. The Corinthians being crafty men of business, it was natural that they should accredit their mythical founder with a refined cunning. Of the numerous legendswhich existed concerninghim, none was more celebrated than that of

the cunningmodein which he succeeded binding Death, in

whom Ares had to be despatchedto release.

2. Glaucus.-Traditiondescribes Glaucus a sonof Sisyphus as by Merope. He alsoappears havehad a symbolicmeaning, to

and was once identical with Poseidon, though he was afterwards degradedfrom the rank of a god to that of a hero. lie isremarkable for his unfortunate end. On the occasion of some

funeral games,celebratedin lolcus in honour of Pelias, he to'ok part in the chariot race, and was torn in pieces by his own horses,which had taken fright. 3. Bellerophon and the Legend of the Amazons.-The third

national hero of Corinth was Bellerophon, Bellerophontos, or

Here the referenceto the sun is so obvious, that the signification ' of the myth is unmistakeable. He was termed the son of Posei-

don or Glaucus, nonecouldappreciate genealogy and this better

than the Corinthians, who daily saw the sun rise from the sea.

We must first, however,narrate the substance the story. of

Bellerophon was born and brought up at Corinth, but was obliged from somecauseor other to leave his country. That he

Provincial Heroic Legends.

181

killed Bellerus, noble of Corinth,is nothinghut a fable arising a

from an unfortunate misinterpretation of his name. He was

hospitablyreceivedby Proetus, king of Tiryns, whosewife at

once fell in love with the however, that Bellerophon him to her husband, and father-in-law, lobates, king handsome, stately youth. "Finding, slighted her passion, she slandered Proetus forthwith sent him to his of Lycia, with a tablet, mysterious

signstm which badelobatesput the bearerto death. At this juncture the heroic career of Bellerophon begins. lobatessought to fulfil the command of Proetus by involving his guest in all kinds of desperateadventures. He first sent him to destroy the Chimoera, dangerousmonster that devastatedthe land. a The fore part of its body was that of a lion, the centre that of

a goat, and the hinder part that of a dragon. According to Hesiod,it had threeheads-that of a lion, a goat,and a dragon. Accordingto the samepoet, the Chimsera a fire-breathing wasmonster of great swiftness and strength, the daughter of Typhon

and Echidna. Bellerophondestroyedthe monsterby raising himself in the air on his winged horse Pegasus, shootingit andwith his arrows. Pegasus was the offspring of Poseidon and Medusa,from whose trunk it sprung after Perseus had struck off her head. Bellerophon captured this wonderful animal as it descendedat the Acro-Corinthus to drink of the spring of Pirene. In this he was assisted by the goddess Athene, who

alsotaught him how to tameand useit. Here,then, he appears

to have already possessed horse at Corinth; though another the tradition relates thai Pegasuswas first sent to him when he set out to conquer the China sera. The origin of the story is ascribed

to a fiery mountain in Lycia; but, as all dragons and suchlike

monsters of antiquity are representedas breathing forth fire and flames,we are perhaps scarcelyjustified in having recourse to a volcano. This characteristic is, in fact, merely a common symbol of the furious and dangerous character of these monsters.

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The contest of Bellerophon is far more likely to be a picture of

the drying up, "bymeans the sun'srays, of the furiousmounof

tain torrents which flood the corn-fields. Others, again, have

thought that the Chimsera represents stormsof winter conthe

quered by the sun. The next adventure in which lobates engaged Eellerophou was an expedition against the Solymi, a neighbouring buthostile mountain tribe. After he had been successful in sub-

duing them, lobates sent him againstthe warlike Amazons,

hoping that among them he would be certain to meet his death. We here, for the first time, come acrossthis remarkable nation of women, with whom other Greek heroes,such as Heracles and Theseus,are said to have fought; and it will not, therefore, be foreign to our object to dwell here on their most importantfeatures.

The Amazons appearin legend as early as Homer, though he only mentions them incidentally. They were said to be a nation of women, who suffered no men among them, except so far as it was necessaryto keep up the race. The women, on the other hand, were trained from their earliest years in all warlike exercises; so that they were not only sufficiently powerful to defend their own land against foreign invaders, but also to make plundering incursions into other countries. Their dominions, the situation of which was at first indefinitely described as in the far north or far west, were afterwards reduced to more distinct limits, and placed in Cappadocia, on the river Thcrmodon, their capital being Themiscyra in Scythia, on the borders of Lake Mseotis, where their intercourse with the Scythians is said to have given rise to the Sarmatian tribes. Later writers also speak of the Amazons in Western Libya. Of the numerous stories rife concerning them, none is more tasteless than that of their cutting off or burning out the right breast, in order not to incommode themselves in the

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usci of the bow. From

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the Thermodon they are said to have made great expeditions as far as the JEgeansea; they are even reported to have invaded Attica, and made war on Theseus. They also play a prominent part in the story of Heracles, whom by they were defeated; and in the Trojan war, when, under their queen Pentliesilea, they came to the assistance Priam against ofthe Greeks. The Amazons were fre-

quentlyrepresented Greek in art. They are heredepicted as fine, powerful women,

An anecdote relatedby Pliny proves what a favouritesubject the Amazons were with Greek artists. He says that the celebrated sculptors, Phidias, Polycletus, Phradmon, and Cresilas, made a

wager as to who should

create the most beautiful

Amazon. Polycletus received the prize, so that

we may conclude that he

Fig.55.-Amazon. Berlin.

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brought this statue--the ideal Amazon of the Greeks-to its highest perfection. Unfortunately, we know nothing of it, exceptthat it was of bronze, and stood with the statues of the other artists

in the templeof the EphesianArtemis. The Amazonof Phidias,we are told, wasrepresented leaning on a spear;Cresilas, the other as onhand, endeavoured to portray a wounded Amazon. Besides these statues,we hear a great deal of the Amazon of Strongylion, celebrated

for the beautyof her legs,which wasin the possession Nero. of We still possess considerable a number of Amazonstatues, someof which are supposed be imitations in marble of the renowned to statueat Ephesus. There are, moreover, severalstatuesof woundedAmazons, some of which are believed to be copies of the work of

Cresilas. There is also another marble statue, considerablylarger than life, which takesa still higher rank. It was originally set upin the Villa Mattei, but since the time of Clement XIV. it has been in the Vatican collection. It is apparently a representation of an

Amazonresting after battle; she is in the act of laying aside her doing so sheraisesherselfslightly on her left foot, an attitude whichis as charming as it is natural. Lastly, we must not omit to mention a statue that has newly come how, as she has already done her shield, battle-axe, and helmet. In

into the possession the Berlin Museum, of which is supposed be to after a work of Polycletus(Fig. 55). We must now return to the history of Bellerophon. After

returning in triumph from his expeditionagainst Amazons, the

the life of the young hero was once more attempted by lobates, who causedhim to be surprised by an ambuscade. Bellerophon, however, again escaped, slaying all his assailants. lobates now ceasedfrom further persecution, and gave him his daughter in marriage,and a share in the kingdom of Lycia. Bellerophon,

in full possession power and riches, and surroundedby of

blooming children, seemed to have reached the summit of

earthlyprosperity, whenhe wasovertaken a grievouschange by

of fortune. He was seizedwith madness, and wandered about

alone, fleeing the societyof men,until he at length perished miserably. Pindar saysthat he incurredthe enmity of the godsby attempting to fly to heaven on his winged horse Pegasus; whereupon Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse. Pegasuscast

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off Bellerophon, and flew of his own. accord to the stables of Zeus, whose thunder-chariot he has ever since drawn. The sad

fate of Bellerophonwas the subject of a touching tragedy of Euripides,someparts of which are still in existence. Heroic honours were paid to Bellerophonin Corinth, and he also hada shrine in the celebratedcypress-groveof Poseidon. 4 Argive Legend.-1. Io.-The first personagewho meets

us on the very thresholdof the mythic age of Argosis Inachus,

1lie god of the Argive river of that name. Inachus was venerated by the inhabitants as the first founder of Argive civilisation after the flood of Deucalion. By his union with Melia, the daughter of Oceanus,he becamethe father of Io, famed for her beauty, whosehistory, which is of great antiquity, has been so greatly embellished by the poets and legendary writers. The following is the substanceof the story:Io was the priestessof Hera. Her great beauty attracted the notice of Zeus. On remarking this, Hera, in her jealousy, changed Io into a white heifer, and set the hundred-eyed Argus

Panoptes(the all-seeing) watch her. to

Zeus, however,sent

Hermes to take away the heifer. Hermes first lulled the guardian to sleep with his wand and then slew him, whence he

is calledArgiphontes(slayerof Argus). Hera avenged herself

by sending a gadfly to torment Io, who, in her madness,wandered through Europe and Asia, until she at length found rest in Egypt, where, touched by the hand of Zeus, she recovered her original form, and gave birth to a son. This son, who was called Epaphus, afterwards became king of Egypt, and built Memphis. The myth, as we have already remarked, has re-

ceivedmany embellishments, the wanderingsof Io grew for

more and more extensivewith the growth of geographicalknowledge. The true interpretation of the myth is due to E. "W.

Welcker,whosemeritorious researches Greekmythology in have

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proved of such great value. lo (the wanderer)is the moon, whoseapparentlyirregular course and temporary disappearancewas considereda most curious phenomenonby the ancients. The

moon-goddessantiquity wasvery frequentlyrepresented of under the figureof a heifer; and Isis herself,the Egyptiangoddess of the moon,was always depictedwith horns. The guardianof the heifer,the hundred-eyed Argus,is a symbol of the starry heaven. Whetherwe seein Hermes dawn or the morning thebreeze, in either case the slaying of Argus will simply mean

that the stars become invisible at sunrise. There is nothing

extraordinary in representing the apparent irregularity of the moon's course,inexplicable as it was to the ancients, under the

guiseof mental disorder. Similar representations occurin the

stories of the solar heroes, Bellerophon and Heracles. In the south-east-the direction in which Egypt lay from Greece-lo

againappears full moon,in her original shape. as

2. Danaus and the Danaids.-According to the legend, Danaiis was a descendantof lo. Epaphus, the son of lo, had a daughter Libya, who bore to Poseidon two sons, Agenor and Belus. The former reigned over Phoenicia, the latter over Egypt. Belus, by his union with Anchinoe, or Achiroe, the

daughter of the Nile, becamethe father of JEgyptus and

Danaus. Between these two brothers-the former of whom had

fifty sonsand the latter fifty daughters-a deadly enmity arose; this induced Danaus to migrate from Egypt and seek the old

home of his ancestress lo.

He embarked with his fifty daugh-

ters in a ship-the first that was ever built-and thus came to Argos, where Gelanor, the reigning descendant of Inachus,

resigned crownin his favour. As king of Argos,Danaiisis the

said to have brought the land, which suffered from want of water, to a higher state of cultivation by watering it with wells

and canals. He is alsosaidto have introducedthe worship of

Apollo and Demeter. The story proceeds to relate that the

fifty sonsof JEgyptusfollowed their uncle to Argos,and com-

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187

pelled him to give them his fifty daughters in marriage. DanaiiSj in revenge, gave each of his daughters on the wedding day a dagger, and commanded them to slay their husbands in the night. All obeyed his command except Hypernmestra, who spared her husband Lynceus, and afterwards even succeeded, with the assistanceof Aphrodite, in effecting his reconciliation with her father. Lynceus succeeded Danaiis in the kingdom, and became, by his son Abas, the ancestor of both the great

Argive heroes, Perseus and Heracles. At a later period, the fable sprang up that the Danaids were punished for theircrimes in the lower world by having continually to pour wrater into a cask full of holes. It has been frequently remarked that

this punishment no conceivable has connection with the crime.

Neither must we forget that the idea of retribution in the lower world was of a comparatively late date. Originally, too, the idea prevailed that the pursuits of the upper world were continued after death in the realms of Hades. And herein lies the

key to the interpretation of the myth, which is evidently connected with the irrigation of Argos ascribed to Danaiis. 3. Proeius and his Daughters.-Acrisius and Proetus were twin sons of Abas, the son of Lynceus and Hyperrnnestra. Between these two brothers an Implacable hostility existed, which was said by the poets to have commencedeven in their mother's womb. Proetus received, as his share of the patrimony, the kingdom of Tiryns; but he was subsequently expelled by his brother, and took refuge at the court of lobates, king of Lycia. lobates gave him his daughter Antea, or Sthenebcea,in marriage, and afterwards restored him to his kingdom of Tiryns. Proetus,with the aid of the Lycian work-

menwhomhe had broughtwith him (Cyclopes), built a strong fortress, which enabled him not only to maintain peaceable possession of Tiryns, but also to extend his dominion as far as

Corinth. The legend then passes the history of his three to

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daughters, Proetides, the whosepride was so excited by their father's greatness and their own beauty that they beganto think themselves superiorto the gods. Their arrogance, however, was soon punishecl, for they were visited with a foul

disease drivenmad. They now fled the society mankind, and of and wandered aboutamongthe mountains and woodsof Argosand Arcadia. At length Proetus succeeded in procuring the services of the celebrated soothsayer and purifier Melampus,

who undertook purification and cure of his daughters. It the

was reported of Melampus that serpents had licked his ears

whilst asleep, that he acquired, consequence, and in a knowledge

of the language of birds. He successfully accomplished the cure of the Prcetides, and received, as a reward, the hand of the princess Iphianassa,in addition to which both he and his brother Bias received a share in the sovereignty of Tiryns. Thus it was that the race of the Amythaonidse,who all inherited the gift of seeing into futurity, and from whom the celebrated soothsayer Ampliiaraiis himself was descended, cameto Argos. 4:. Perseus.-Acrisius, the brother of Proetus, had a daughter called Danae,whose fortune it was to gain the love of the great ruler of Olympus. Her father, Aerisius, was induced by an oracle, which foretold that he should be killed by his own grandson,to immure Danae in a subterraneouschamber. Zeus, however, in his love for her, changed himself into a shower of golden rain, and thus introduced himself through the roof of her prison. Thus was the god-like hero Perseusborn. There can be no doubt that this myth, too, is founded on the idea of the bridal union of heaven and earth; this is one of the pictures of nature which the mind most readily forms. Danae represents the country of Argos; her prison is the heaven, enveloped,

duringthe gloomymonthsof winter, with thick clouds. Her offspring Zeusrepresents light of the sun, which returns by thein the spring-time and begins, like a veritable hero, its contest

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189

with the powers of death and darkness. The Gorgon Medusa has the same significance in the history of Perseus that the hideous Python has in that of Apollo. The legend then proceedsto relate that Acrisius; having heard of the birth of his grandson, to avert the fate threatened by the oracle,orderedmother and child to be confined in a chest and cast into the sea. But human wisdom avails nought against the inevitable decrees heaven. The chest was cast by the waves on the of rocky island of Seriphus, where it was found by the fisherman Dictys; and Danae and her child were hospitably received and cared for by Dictys and his brother Polydectes, the ruler of the

island. The latter,however, subsequently wished marryDanae, to and on her rejectinghis advances made her a slave. Fearingthe vengeanceof Perseus,he despatched him, as soon as he was grown up, on a most perilous adventure. This was no other than to bring him the head of the Gorgon Medusa-a terrible "wingedwoman, who dwelt with her two sisters, the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, on the farthest western shore of the

earth,on the border of Oceanus. Perseus out, though:he set

.was in the greatest perplexity how to accomplish so perilous a task. Hermes, however, at this juncture cameto his aid; and Athene, the special patroness of heroes, inspired him with

courage. Thesedeitiesfirst showedhim how to procurethe necessary means accomplishing undertaking,which confor hissisted of an invisible* helmet, a magic wallet, and a pair of

winged sandals. All thesewerein the hands of the Nymphs,

by wliom probably the water-nymphs are meant. The way to their abodehe could only learn from the Grcese.Thesecreatures, who were likewise the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, were

reported have come to into the world as old women; their very appearance appalling,and they had but one eye and one wastooth between them, of which they made use in turn. They, too. dwelt on the outskirts of the gloomy region inhabited by

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the Gorgons,whencethey are called by /Eschylus their sentinels. Under the guidance of Apollo and Athene, Perseuscameto the Grreae. He then robbed them of their one eye and one tooth, and thus forced them to tell him the way to the habitations of the Nymphs. From the latter he at once obtained the objects

he sought and havingdonnedhis winged sandals, hastened \ he to the abodeof the Gorgons, whom he fortunately discoveredasleep. Athene then pointed out to him Medusa-the other two sisters, Stheno and Euryale, being immortal-and enjoined him to approachthem carefully backwards, as the sight of their faces would infallibly turn any mortal into stone. With the help of her mirror-like shield and the sickle of Herrnes, Perseus succeededin cutting off the head of Medusawithout looking round; and having placed the head in his wallet, he hastened away. His helmet, which rendered him invisible, enabled him to escape the pursuit of the other Gorgons,who had meanwhile awaked. From the trunk of Medusa sprang the winged horse Pegasus, and Chrysaor, the father of Geryones. On his return to Seriphus,Perseusturned the unrighteous Polydectes into stone by means of the Gorgon's head, which he then presented to

Athene; and after making his benefactor, Dictys, king of the island, he turned liis stepstowards his native place, Argos. Such are the essential features the myth-concerningwhich, ofin spite of its antiquity, we have no earlier sources of information-such is the original framework on which Avas afterwards built up the history of the further adventures of the hero. The most celebrated of thesewas the rescue of Andromeda, which

formedthe subjectof a dramaof Euripides, and wasalsohighly popularamong artists and poets. The following is a brief account this exploit:-Cassiopea,the wife of Cepheus, of kingof ^Ethiopia, ventured to extol her own beauty abovethat of the

Nereids,who thereuponbesoughtPoseidonto avengethem. He grantedtheir request,and not only over whelmed land the

Provincial Heroic legends.

devoured both man and beast.

191

with disastrousfloods, but sent also a terrible sea-monster, which

The oracle of Ammon declared

that the land couldonly be savedby the sacrificeof the king's daughter,Andromeda,to the monster. Cepheus,after some time, yielded to the entreatiesof his people,and Andromedawas chained to a rock close to the sea. In this situation she

was found by Perseus,on his return from his adventuie wi.th

the Gorgons. He forthwith attackedand slew the sea-monster,

and releasedthe trembling maiden, who soon after married her

preserver. Later writers, not satisfied with, this adventure,

added that Perseus was also obliged to vanquish a rival in Phineus, the king's brother, to whom Andromeda had been already promised. Phineus, together with his warriors, was changed into stone by meansof the Gorgon's head.

The legendconcludes with the return of the hero to Argos,

where he was reconciled to his grandfather Acrisius, who had at first fled in terror to Larissa. On the occasion,however, of some

games which the people Larissahad instituted in his honour, of

Perseuswas unfortunate enough to kill Acrisius with his discus, thus involuntarily fulfilling the prophecy of the oracle. In this feature of the story we recognisean unmistakeable referenceto

the symbolicmeaning Perseus;for the discushererepresents, of

as in the story of the death of Hyacinthus, the face of the sun.

Perseus, unwilling to enteron the inheritanceof the grandfather

he had slain, exchanged the kingdom of Argos for that of

Tiryns,whichwashanded overto him by its king, Megapenthes,

the son of Proetus. He here founded the cities of Midea and

Mycenae, became, and through his children by Andromeda, the

ancestorof many heroes,and, among others, of Heracles. His

sonElectryonbecame father of Alcmene, the whilst Amphitryon wasdescended another his sons. Accordingto Pausanias, from of heroichonours werepaid to Perseus, only throughoutArgos, not but alsoin Athensand the islandof Seriphus.

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

Perseus occupies prominentposition in Greekart. His common a attributes are the winged sandals, sickle which he madeuseof to the slayMedusa, the helmet of Hades. In bodily form, a?well asin and costume, appears he very like Hermes. Among the art monumentswhich relate to his adventuresis a marble relief from the Villa Pamfili, now in the CapitolineMuseum

Fig. 56.-Perseus and Andromeda. Marble Relief in the Museumat Naples

at Rome,depictingthe rescue Andromeda. The sea-monster of lies

dead at the feet of Perseus, who is assisting the joyful Andromeda to descend from the rock. The attitude and expression of both figures

arevery striking: on the one side,maidenly modesty on the other, ; proud self-reliance. It is worth remarking that Perseus, addition in to his winged shoes,has also wings on his head. The samecon-

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193

ception is perceptible, with a few minor points of difference,in severalPompeianpaintings, and on a marble relief of the Naples Museum(Fig. 56). Representations Medusaare mostly confined ofto masks, which are often found on coats of mail, shields, leaves of

folding doors,and instruments of all kinds. There are two types, representing earlier and a later conceptionof Medusa. Eailier art an set itself to depict the horrible only in the head of Medusa; and artists,therefore,stroveto impart to the faceas strong an expression of rage and ferocity as was possible,representingher with tonguelolling forth, and boar-like tusks. It is worthy of remark that, in the

facestill morestriking, while the snakes appearto be fastened round the neck like a necklace. Very different is the conceptionadopted by the later and moresensuous school. This labouredprincipally to give expression the gradualebbing awayof life in the countenance to of the dying Gorgon, effectwhich wasrenderedstill more striking an by transformingthe hideousGorgonfaceof earlier times into an ideal of the most perfectbeauty. The most splendid exampleof this later conception, which had beencreepingin sincethe ageof Praxiteles, isto be found in the Medusa Eondanini of the Munich collection-a

marble mask of most beautiful workmanship, which was brought

Fig. 57.-Eondanini

Medusa.

Munich.

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

from the Rondanini Palaceat Rome (Fig. 57). This Medusa, like many othersof the later type, has wings on the head. 5. The Dioscnri,-On passing to Laconia and Mossenia, the southern districts of the Peloponnesus,we come in contact with the legend of the Dioscuri. Tyndareiis and his brother Icarius were said to have founded the most ancient sovereignty in Lacedsemon. They were driven thence, however, by their half-brother Hippocoon, and were kindly received by Thesthis, the ruler of the ancient city of Pleuron in yEtolia, who gave Tyndareiis his daughter Leda in marriage. Icarius received the hand of Poly caste,who bore him Penelope-afterwards the wife of Odysseus; while Leda was the mother of the Dioscuri, Castor

and Polydeuces (Pollux). Tyndareiis wasafterwards reinstated

in his Lacedaemonian kingdom at Amyclee by Heracles. Besides these two sons, Leda had also two daughters, Clytoemnestraand

Helene (Helen), who are celebratedin connectionwith the

Trojan war. An ancient legend also existed to the effect that Leda had beenbeloved by Zeus, who had approachedher under the guise of a swan. The greatest incongruity prevails as to which of the children could claim a divine origin. In Homer, Helen alone is represented as the daughter of Zeus; while Clytsemnestra,together with Castor and Polydeuces,appear as the children of Tyndareiis. At a subsequentperiod, the name of "Dioscuri" (sonsof Zeus) and a belief in their divine origin arose simultaneously. Later still, Castor was represented as a mortal, and the son of Tyndareiis; and Polydeuces as immortal, and the son of i!0us. After Castor, however, had fallen in the contest with the sons of Aphareus, his brother Polydeuces, un-

willing to part from him, prevailed on Zeus to allow them to

remain together, on condition of their spending one day in Olympus and the next in Hades. They thus led a life divided betweenmortality and immortality. The following is an account of their heroic cUeds:-On attaining manhood, Castor dis-

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195

tiuguishedhimself by his skill in the management horses; of

whilst Poly deucesbecame renowned as a skilful boxer, though he too had skill in riding. They first made war on Theseus, who had carried off their sister Helen, then ten years old, and set her free by the conquest of Aphidiue. They next took

part in the expedition of the Argonauts,in which Polydeuces gainedstill further renownby his victory with the cestus overthe celebrated boxer Amycus. They were also present at the Calydonian boar hunt. Their last undertaking was the rape of the daughters of Leucippus, king of Messenia. This was the causeof their combat with their cousins Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus, to whom the damsels had been betrothed. According to others, however, it sprang from a quarrel as to the division of some booty that they had carried off together. Castor was slain by Idas, whereupon Polydeuces in his wratlj

slewLynceus, while Idashimself wasoverwhelmed a thunderby

bolt from Zeus.

The interpretation of this myth is by no means void of difficulty. It is commonly supposed that they were ancient Peloponnesiandivinities of light, who, after the Dorian invasion,

weredegraded the rank of heroes. They are often interpreted to

as personifications of the morning and evening star, or of the

twilight (dawnand dusk). This view died out after the second deification that they underwent. Theywerevenerated, only notin their native Sparta, but throughout the whole of Greece,as kindly, beneficent deities, whose aid might be invoked either in

battleorin the dangers shipwreck. In this latter character of they are laudedby an Homerichymn, in which they arerepresentedas darting through the air on their golden wings, in order to calm the storm at the prayer of the terror-stricken mariner. It has often been remarked, and with a great appearanceof truth, that these Dioscuri flitting about on their golden wings arc probably nothing more than what is commonly called St. Elmo's

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electric flame which, is often seen playing round the

tops of the masts during a storm,and which is regarded tha by

sailors as a sign of its speedyabatement; indeed the name Elmo

has been supposed corruption of Helene. In Sparta,the a Dioscuriwere regarded the tutelary deities of the state, as as well as an exampleof warlike valour for the youth of thecountry. Their shrines here were very numerous. Their ancient symbol, which the Spartansalways took with them on a

campaign, consisted two parallel beams of joined by cross-bars.

They had other festivals and temples besides those of Sparta j in Mantinea, for instance, where an eternal fire was kept

burning in their honourj also in Athens, where they were

venerated under the appellation of Anaces. Their festival was here celebrated with horse-racing. The Olympic games also stood under their special protection, and their imageswere set up in all the palaestra. They were, in fact, everywhereregarded as extremely benevolent and sociable deities, who foster all that is noble and beautiful among men.The Dioscuri were believed to have assisted the Eomans

againstthe Latins at the Lake Eegillus; and the dictator, A.

Postumius, vowed a temple to them, which was erected in the Forum, opposite the temple of Yesta. In commemorationof this

aid, the Equitesmade solemnprocession a from the templeof HonoSjpast the temple of the Dioscuri, to the Capitol every year on the Ides of July.In art the Dioscuri arerepresented heroic youths of noble mien asand slim but powerful forms. Their characteristic marks are conical

caps, points of which are adornedwith a star. They generally the appear nude, or clothed only with a light chlamys, and nearly always in connection with their horses,either riding, standingby and holding them, or leading them by the bridle. The most celebrated representation the Dioscuri that lias comedown to us from of antiquity consists the marble statues of called the Colossi of Monte Cavallo,in Rome. Theseareeighteen feet in height, and the proportionsof the figures, togetherwith thoseof the horses, exquisite. are

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197

They are setup on the Quirinal, which,has receivedfrom them the name of Monte Cavallo. They are not, indeed,original works, but areprobably imitations of bronzes the most flourishing period of ofGreek art, executed in the time of Augustus.

6. Heracles (Hercules).-Of all themyths of the countries originally inhabitedby the ^Eoliansthe myth of Heracles the is mostglorious. This hero,though his famewaschiefly disseminated by means the Dorians,was yet by birth the common of property^of j^Eolian the race-their nationalhero,in fact,just ashe afterwards became the national hero of the whole of Greece.

"Noother Greek myth has received so many subsequent additions -not only from native, but also from foreign sources-as this; which is, in consequence, most extensive and complicated of the all Greek myths. "We shall, therefore, have to confine ourselves to the consideration of its most characteristic features, and those which are the most important in the history of art. In Homer, who is here again our most ancient authority, the leading features of the myth are traced-the enmity of Hera towards the hero; his period of subjection to Eurystheus, and

the laboursby which lie emancipated himself (though special

mention is. made only of his seizure of Cerberus)" his expeditions against Pylus, Ephyra, OEchalia, and Troy. The verses in the Odyssey (xi. 602-4), which refer to his deification and subsequent marriage with Hebe, are probably a later insertion. In the Iliad, Heracles is spoken of as a great hero of olden time, " whom the Eates and the grievous wrath of Hera subdued." In Homer, too, he appears as a purely Grecian hero,

his warlikeundertakings having neveryet led him beyondTroy,

and his armour differing in no respect from that of other heroes. The description of him in Hesiod's Theogonyand in the Shield of Heracles is somewhat more minute, but is otherwise essentially the same. Erom what source the deification of Heracles sprang-whether it was due to Phoenician influences

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or not-has hitherto remainedan undetermined question; we

only know that it appears as an accomplished fact about700 B.C.

I. THE BIRTH AND YOUTHOF HERACLES.-This portion

of the legend found its chief development in Boeotia. Amphitryon, a son of Alcseus and grandson of Perseus, was compelled to flee from Tiryns with his betrothed Alcmene-likewise a descendant of Perseus by her father Electryon-on account of a murder, and found aiv. asylum at the court of Creon, king of Thebes. From this place he undertook an expedition against the robber tribes of

the Teleboae (Taphians), consequence a promisemadeto in of

Alcniene, whose brother they had slain. After the successful termination of this expedition, the marriage was to have been celebratedat Thebes. But, in the meanwhile, the great ruler of Olympus himself had been smitten with the charms of Alcmene, and, taking the form of the absent Amphitryon, had left her

pregnant with Heracles, whom she afterwardsgave birth at to the sametime with Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon. Thssovereignty over all the descendantsof Perseus,which Zeus had destined for Heracles, was snatched from him by the crafty jealousy of Hera, who prolonged the pains of Alcmene and hastened the delivery of the wife of Sthenelus, the uncle of Amphitryon, by two months. JSTot content with having sub-

jectedthe heroto thewill of theweak and cowardlyEurystheus,

Hera, according to a subsequent account of the poets, sent two serpents to kill the child when he was about eight months old. Heracles, however, gave the first proof of his divine origin by

stranglingthe serpents with his hands. An accountof this

scenehas descendedto us in a beautiful poem of Pindar. In Thebes, the boy grew up and was put under the care of the best

preceptors. But, though he excelledin everyfeat of strength

and valour, he made no progressin musical arts, and even slew his

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master Linus on account of a somewhatharsh reproof which his

inaptitudeentailedon him. As a punishment, Amphitryon sent

him to Mount Cithseron to mind the flocks, a mode of life which Heracles continued until he had completed his eighteenth year. It was to this period that the sophist Prodicus, a contemporary of Socrates, referred his beautiful allegory of the Choice of Heracles. After attaining his full growth (according to Apollodorus he was four cubits in height) and strength, the young hero performed his first great feat by killing the lion ofCithseron. Whether it was this skin or that of the Nemean

lion which he afterwards used as a garment is not certain. His next act was to free the Thebans from the ignominious tribute which they were compelled to pay to Erginus, king of Orchonienus, by a successful expedition, in which Amphitryon,

however, his life. Creon,the king of Thebes, gratitude lost in gave the hero his daughterMegarain marriage, while Iphiclesmarried her sister.

II.

HERACLES IN

THE

SERVICE OF

EURYSTHEXJS-THE

TWELVE LABOURS.-We now cometo the second epochin the

life of the hero, in which he performed various labours at the bidding of Eurystheus, king of Mycenasor Tiryns. The number

of thesewas first fixed at twelve in the Alexandrianage,when

Heracles was identified with the Phoenician sun-god, Baal; probably from, the analogy afforded in the course of the sun through the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The subjection of

Heraclesto his unmanlycousinEurystheusis generally represented as a consequenceof the stratagem by which Hera obtained for the latter the sovereignty over all the descendants of Perseus. At a later period Heracles was said to have become insane, in consequence the summonsof Eurystheus to do his of bidding. The following is an account of the labours ofHeracles:-

1. The Fight with the Nemean Lion.-The

district of Kemea

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and Cleonae was inhabited by a monstrous lion, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, whose skin bade defianceto every weapon.

Heracles, after using his arrowsand club against animalin the

vain, at last drove it into a cave, and there strangled it with his hands. He afterwards used the head of the lion as a helmet, and the impenetrable skin as a defence. 2. The LernoBan Hydra.-This was a great water-serpent, likewise the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The number of its heads varies in the accounts of poets, though ancient gems usually represent it with seven. It ravaged the country of Lerna in Argolis, destroying both men and beasts. In this adventure He-racleswas accompaniedby lolaus, the son of his brother Iphicles, who, on this as on other occasions,appearsas his faithful companion. After driving the monster from its lair by meansof his arrows, he advancedfearlessly, and, seizing it in his hands, began to strike off its heads with his sword. To his amazement,in the place of each head he struck off two sprang up. He then orderedlolaus to set on fire a neighbouring wood, and with the firebrands searedthe throats of the serpent, until he at length succeeded slaying it. in He then dipped his arrows in its gall, thus rendering the wounds inflicted by themincurable.

3. The EnjmcunthianBoar.-This animal inhabited the mountain district of Erymanthus in Arcadia, from which place it

wastedthe cornfields Psophis. Heraclesdrovethe boarup of to the snow-covered summit of the mountain,and then caughtit alive, as Eurystheus had commanded him. "When he arrived at Mycensewith the terrible beast on his back, Eurysfcheus wasso terrified that he hid himself in a vessel. This comic scene is

frequently depicted on vases. It was on this occasion that

Heracles destroyed Centaurs. On the roadthe hero,hungry the

and thirsty, was hospitably received by the friendly Centaur Pholus, who holds the sameplace among the Arcadian Centaurs

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as Chiron doesamongthose of Thessaly. Pliolus broached, in honourof his guest, caskof wine lying in his cave,which was a the common property of all the Centaurs. The fragrance the ofwine attracted the other Centaurs living on Mount Pholoe, and they immediately attacked the tippling hero with pieces of rock and trunks of trees. Heracles, however, drove them "backwith arrows and firebrands, and completely vanquished them after a terrible fight. On returning to the cave of Pholus, he found his

friend d^ad. He had drawn an arrow out of a dead body to

examine it, but accidentally let it fall on his foot, from thewound of which he died.

4. The Hind of Cerynea.-This animal, which was sacredto the Arcadian Artemis, had golden horns and brazen hoofs, the latter being a symbol of its untiring fleetness. Heracles was commanded to bring it alive to Mycenae,and for a whole year he continued to pursue it over hill and dale with untiring energy. At length it returned to Arcadia, where he succeeded in capturing it on the banks of the Ladon, and bore it in triumph to Mycenae. 5. The Stymphalian, Birds.-These voracious birds, which fed on human flesh, had brazen claws, wings, and beaks, and

were able to shoot out their feathers like arrows. They

inhabited the district round Lake Stymphalis in Arcadia. Heracles slew some, and so terrified the rest by means of his brazen rattle that they never returned. This latter circumstance is apparently an addition of later times, to explain their reappearance the history of the Argonauts. in 6. Cleansing of the StaUes of Augeas.-The sixth task of

Heracles to cleanse one day the stablesof Augeas,king was in

of Elis, whosewealth in cattle had becomeproverbial. Heracles repaired to Elis, where he offered to cleansethe stables,in which were three thousand oxen, if the king would consent to give him a tenth part of the cattle. Augeas agreedto do so; Heracles

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then turned the course of the Peneus or the Alpheus, or, according to some, of both rivers, through the stalls, and thus carried off the filth. Augeas,however, on learning that Heracles had undertaken the labour at the command of Eurystheus, refused to give him the stipulated reward, a breach of faith for which Heracles,later, took terrible vengeance the king. on 7. The Cretan Bull.-In the history of Minos, king of Crete, we find that Poseidon once sent up a bull out of the seafor Minos to sacrifice,but that Minos was induced by the beauty of the animal to place it among his own herds, and sacrificed another in its stead; whereupon Poseidon drove the bull mad. The seventh labour of Heracles consisted in capturing this bull and bringing it to Mycenae. It was afterwards set free by Eurystheus, and appears later, in the story of Theseus, as thebull of Marathon.

8. The Mares of Diomedes.-Diomedes was king of the Bistones,a warlike tribe of Thrace. He inhumanly causedall strangerscast upon his coaststo be given to his wild mares,who fed on human flesh. To bind these horsesand bring them alive to Mycenae was the next task of Heracles. This, too, he successfully accomplished, after inflicting on Diomedes the same fate to which he had condemnedso many others. 9. The Girdle of Hippolyte.-Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, was anxious to obtain the girdle which the queen of the Amazons had received from Ares; and Heracles was accordingly despatched to fetch it. After various adventures he landed in Themiscyra, and was at first kindly received by Hippolyte, who was willing to give him the girdle. But Hera, in the guise of an Amazon, spread a report that Heracles was about to carry off the queen, upon which the Amazons attacked

Heracles his followers. In the battle which ensued and Hippolyte was killed, and the hero, after securing the girdle, departed. On his journey homewards occurred his celebrated adventure

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with Hesione, daughter Laomedon, the of king of Troy. This king had refusedPoseidonand Apollo the rewards he hadpromised them for their assistance building the walls of Troy. in

In consequence his perfidy,Apollo visited the countrywith of

a pestilence,and Poseidon sent a sea-monster, which devastated

the land far and wide. By the advice of the oracle, Hesione, the king's daughter, wasexposed be devoured the animal. to byHeracles offeredto destroy the monster, if Laomedon would give

him thejhorses which his father Tros had receivedas a compensation for the loss of Ganymedes. Laomedon agreed, and Heracles then slew the monster. Laomedon, however, again proved false to his word, and Heracles,with a threat of future vengeance, departed. 10. The Oxenof Geryones.-The next task of Heracleswas to fetch the cattle of the three-headedwinged giant Geryones, or

Geryoneus (Geryon). This monster the offspringof Chrysaor was (red slayer) and Callirrhoe(fair-flowing),an Oceanid, and inhabited the island of Erythia, in the far West, in the region, of the setting sun, where he had a herd of the finest and fattest cattle. It was only natural that Heracles,in the course of his long journey to Erythia and back, should meet with numerous adventures; and this expedition has, accordingly, been more richly embellished than any other by the imagination of the poets. He is generally supposedto have passedthrough Libya, and to have sailed thence to Erythia in a golden boat, which he forced Helios (the sun) to lend him by shooting at him with his arrows. Having arrived in Erythia, he first slew the herdsman

who wasminding the oxen, together with his dog. He was

then proceeding to drive off the cattle, when he was overtaken by Geryon. A violent contest ensued, in which the threeheadedmonster was at length vanquished by the arrows of the mighty hero. Heracles is then supposedto have recrossedthe ocean in the boat of the sun} and, starting from Tartessus,to

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We

have journeyed on foot through Iberia, Gaul, and Italy.

pass over his contests with the Celts and Ligurians,and only notice briefly his victory over the giant Cacus, mentionedbyLivy, which took place in the district where Eorne was afterwards built, becauseRoman legend connected with this the introduction of the worship of Hercules into Italy. At length, after many adventures,he arrived at Mycense,where Eurystheus sacrificed the oxen to the Argive goddessHera. Heracles has now completed ten of his labours, bu^t Eurystheus, as Apollodorus relates,refused to admit the destruction of the Lernsean Hydra, because on that occasion Heracles had availed himself of the help of lolaus, or the cleansing of the stables of Augeas,because the reward for which he had stipuof lated; so that the hero was compelled to undertake two more. This account does not, however, harmonise with the tradition of the responseof the oracle,in deference to which Heracles surrenderedhimself to servitude, and which offeredthe prospect oftwelve labours from the first.

11. The Apples of the Hesperides.-This adventure has been even more embellishedwith later and foreign additions than the last. The golden apples, which were under the guardianship of the Hesperides,or nymphs of the west, constituted the marriage

present which Hera had received from Gsea the occasion on of

her marriage with Zeus. They were closely guardedby the ter-

rible dragonLadon, who,like all monsters, the offspringof was Typhon and Echidna. This, however, far lessembarrassing wasto the hero than his total ignorance of the site of the garden of

the Hesperides, which led him to make several fruitless efforts

before he succeeded reaching the desired spot. in His first object was to gain information as to the situation of the garden, and for this purpose he journeyed through Illyria to

the Ericlanus (Po), in order to inquire the way of the nymphs

who dwelt on this river. By them he was referred to the

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treacherous sage Nereus, whom he managedto seizewhilst asleep,and refused to release until he had obtained thedesired information. Heracles then proceeded by way of

Tartessus Libya, where he was challenged a wrestling to to matchby the giant Antaeus, powerful son of Earth, who was, a according Libyan tradition, of a monstrousheight (somesay to sixty cubits). He wasattackedby Heracles, but, as he received new strengthfrom his motherEarth as often as he touchedthe ground,tjie hero lifted him up in the air and squeezed to himdeath in his arms.

From Libya Heracles passed into Egypt, where the cruel king Busiris was in the habit of seizing all strangers who entered the country and sacrificing them to Zeus. Heracles would have suffered a similar fate, had he not broken the chains laid upon him, and slain the king and his son. His indulgence at the richly-furnished table of the king was a feature in the story which affordedno small amusement to the comic writers, who wereespeciallyfond of jesting on the subject of the healthy and heroic appetite of Heracles. From Egypt the hero made his way into ^Ethiopia, where he slew Emathion, the son of Tithonus and Eos, for his cruelty to strangers. He next crossed the sea to India, and thence cameto the Caucasus,where he set Prometheus free and destroyed the vulture that preyed on his

liver. After Prometheus described him the long road to had to the Hesperides, passed he through Scythia, and cameat length to the land of the Hyperboreans, whereAtlas borethe pillars of heaven his shoulders. This wasthe end of his journey, for on Atlas, at his request, fetched the apples,whilst Heraclessupported the heavens. Here again the comic poets introduced an amusing scene. Atlas, having once tasted the delights of freedom, betrayed no anxiety to relieve his substitute, but .offered, instead, to bear the apples himself to Eurystheus. Heracles, however, proved even more cunning than he, for,

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apparently agreeingto the proposition,he askedAtlas just to

relieve him until he had arranged more comfortably a cushion for his hack. When Atlas good-huinouredly consented,Heracles of courseleft him in his former position, and made off with the apples. Another account statesthat he descended himself into

the garden slewthe hundred-headed and dragon who kept guard

over the trees.

12. Cerberus.-The most daring of all the feats of Heracles, and that which "bears palm from all the others, and is^in consethe quence,always put at the end of his labours, was the bringing of Cerberusfrom the lower world. In this undertaking, which is mentioned even by Homer, he was accompaniedby Hermes and Athene, though he had hitherto been able to dispensewith divine aid. He is commonly reported to have made his descent into the lower world at Cape Taanarumin Laconia. Close to

the gates Hadeshe found the adventurous of heroes Theseus and

Pirithoiis, who had gone down to carry off Persephone,fastened to a rock. He succeeded setting Theseusfree, but Pirithous in he was obliged to leave behind him, because of the violent

earthquake which occurredwhen he attemptedto touch him.

After severalfurther adventures, he entered the presenceof the lord of the lower world. Hades consented to his taking Cerberus, on condition that he should master him without using any weapons. Heracles seizedthe furious beast, and, having chained him, he brought him to Eurystheus, and afterwards carried him back to his place in the lower world. The completion of this task releasedHeracles from his servitude to Eurystheus.III. DEEDS OFHERACLESAFTERHIS SERVICE.-1. The Murder

of Ipldtus and Contestwith Apollo.-The hero, after his release from servitude, returned to Thebes, where he gave his wife Megara in marriage to lolaiis. He then proceededto the court of Eurytus, king of (Echalia, who had promised his beautiful

daughter lole in marriage the manwho shouldvanquish to him-

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self and liis sons in snooting with the bow. The situation of CEehalia variously given; sometimes it is placed in Thessaly, is sometimesin the Peloponnesus,on the borders of Arcadia and Messenia, and sometimesin the island of Euboea,close to Eretria. Heraclesgained a most complete victory ; but Eurytus, neverthe-

less, refused give him his daughter, to reproaching him with themurder of his children by Megara, and with his ignominious bondageto Eurystheus. Heracles, with many threats of future vengeance, withdrew, and when, not long afterwards, Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, fell into his hands, he cast him from the highest tower of his citadel in Tiryns. This somewhattreacherous action being at variance with the general character of the hero, the story subsequently arose that Iphitus was a friend of Heracles,and had advocated his causewith Eurytus, and that Heracles only treated him thus in a fit of insanity. The bloody deedwas fraught with the gravest consequences. After seeking purification and absolution in vain among men, Heracles came to Delphi, in order to seek the aid and consolation of the oracle. But Apollo, with whom the royal family of GEchalia stood in high favour, rejected him; whereupon Heracles forced his way into the temple, and was already in the act of bearing away the holy tripod, in order to erect an oracle of his own, when he was confronted by the angry deity. A fearful combat would doubt less have ensued,if the father of gods and men himself had not interfered to prevent this unnatural strife between his favourite sonsby separatingthe combatantswith his lightning. Heracles was now commanded by the Pythian priestessto allow himself to be sold by Hermes into slavery for three years, to expiate the murder of Iphitus. 2. Heracles in the Service of Ompliale.-This portion of the story is of Lydian origin, but was cleverly interwoven with the Greek legend. The Lydians, in fact, honoured a sun-hero callec] Sandon, who resembled Heracles in many respects, as the an

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cestor of their kings. The oriental character of the Lydiaii Heracles at once manifests itself in the fact that he here appears as entirely devoted to sensual pleasures,becoming effeminate in the society of women, and allowing himself to be clothed in female attire, whilst his mistress Omphale donned his lion-skin and club, and flaunted up and down before him. He did not always linger in such inactivity, however; sometimes the old desire for action urged him forth to gallant deeds. Thus he vanquished and chastised the Cercopes,a race of goblins who used to trick and waylay travellers. He also slew Syleus, who compelled all passing travellers to dig in his vineyard; which formed the subject of a satyric drama of Euripides. 3. His Expedition against Troy.-After performing several >therfeats in the service of Omphale, Heracles again became free. He now appearsto have undertaken an expedition against the faithless Laomedon, king of Troy, in company with othei Greek heroes,such as Peleus, Telamon, and Oicles, whose number increasedas time went on. The city was taken by storm: Oicles, indeed, was slain, but, on the other hand, Laomedon and all his sonsexcept Podarcesfell before the arrows of Heracles. Hesione, the daughter of the king, was given by Heracles to his friend Telamon, and becameby him the mother of Teucer. She

received permission from Heracles release of theprisoners, to one

and cliose her brother Podarces,who afterwards bore the name

of Priamus(the redeemed), continued raceof Dardanus and the

in Ilium.

4. The PeloponnesianExpeditions of Heracles.-The legend relatesthat the hero now undertook his long-deferred expedition

against Augeas, which was the means kindling a Messenian of

and Lacedaemonian war. After assemblingan army in Arcadia, which was joined by many gallant Greek heroes, he advanced against Elis. Heracles, however, fell sick; and in his absence Ms army was attacked and driven back with great loss by the

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braveActoridse Molionidse, nephews Augeas. It was or the of

only after Heracles.had slain these heroes in an ambuscadeat Cleonse, they were on their way to the Isthmian games,that as he succeededin penetrating into El is. He then slew Augeas, and gave the kingdom to his son Phyleus, with whom he was on friendly terms. It was on this occasionthat he instituted the Olympic games. He then marched against Pylus, either because its king, Neleus, had given assistance to the Molionidoe, or else

because Neleus had refusedto purify him from the murderof Iphitus. This expedition against Pylus wassubsequently greatly embellished the poets,who madeit into a greatbattle of the by gods,onepart of whom fought for Neleus,and the other partfor Heracles. The chief feature was the combat between Hera-

cles and Periclymenus, the bravest of the sons of Neleus, who

had receivedfrom Poseidon, tutelary deity of the Pylians, the the power of transforminghimself into any kind of animal. The result of the combatwas of course completevictory for a Heracles. Neleus,with his elevengallant sons,wasslain, and only the youngest, Nestor, remainedto perpetuate celebrated therace. The Lacedaemonian expedition of Heracles, which follows

closeon that against Pylus, wasundertakenagainstHippocobn, the half-brother Tyndareus, of whom he had expelled. Hippocoonwasdefeated slain by Heracles, and who gavehis kingdom to Tyndareus. On this occasionHeracles was assistedby Cepheus, king of Tegea, with his twenty sons,a circumstance which is only mentioned account a remarkable on of legendconnectedwith his stay in Tegea. Heracles is here said to have

left Auge, the beautiful sister of Cepheus,and priestessof Athene, pregnantwith Telephus,whosewondrous adventures haveoccupied artistsand poetsalike. Auge concealed child her in the groveof Athene, whereupon angrygoddess the visited the land with a famine. Aleus,the father of Auge,on discovering the fact, caused child to be exposed, the and sold the mother

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"beyond the sea. Auge thus came into Mysia, where the king Teuthras made her his wife. Telephus was suckled by a hind. He grew up, and ultimately, after some wonderful adventures, succeededin finding his mother. He succeeded Teuthras, and, later, became embroiled with the Greeks when they landed on their expedition againstTroy, on which occasionhe was wounded "by Achilles. Telephus, among all the sons of Heracles,is said to have borne the greatest resemblanceto his father. 5. Achelous,Nessus, Gycnus.-The next episodein the history of the hero is his wooing of Deianira, the daughter of QEneus, king of /Etolia. QEneus celebrated as the first cultivator of is the vine in that country, and as the father of the ^Etolian heroes, Meleagerand Tydeus. The river-god Achelous was also a suitor for the hand of Deianira, and as neither he nor Heracles would relinquish their claim, it was decided by the combat betweenthe

rivals* so oftendescribed the poets. The powerof assuming by variousforms was of little use to Achelous, having finally for, transformed himself into a bull, he wasdeprivedof a hornbyHeracles,and compelledto declare himself vanquished. Heracles restored him his horn, and received in exchangethat of the

goat Amalthea. After his marriagewith Deianira, Heracles lived for sometime happily at the court of his father-in-law,where liis son Hyllus was born. In consequence an acciof dental murder, he was obliged to leave .ZEtoliaand retire to the court of his friend Ceyx, king of Trachis, at the foot of MountOCta. On the road occurred his celebrated adventure with the

Centaur iSTessus.On coming to the river Evenus, Heracles entrusted Deianira to Nessus to carry across, whilst he himself

wadedthrough the swollenstream. The Centaur, inducedby

the beauty of his burden, attempted to carry off Deianira, but* The most beautiful description exists in, a chorus in the Trachinice of Sophocles, in Ovid's Metamorphoses. and

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was pierced by an arrow of Heracles, and expiated his attempt with his life. He avenged himself by giving De'ianira someof his blood to make a magic salve, with which he assured her she could always securethe love of her husband. On reaching Trachis they were hospitably received by Ceyx. Heraclesfirst defeated the Dryopes, and assistedthe Dorian king ^Egimius in his contest with the Lapithse. He next engaged in his celebratedcombat with Cycnus, the son of Ares, which took place at Iton, in the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Pagasse. Heracles not only slew his opponent, but even wounded the god of war himself, who had come to the assistanceof his son. This contest is the subject of the celebrated poem called the Shield of Hercules,which goesunder the name of Hesiod. IY. DEATH AND APOTHEOSIS.-The death of Heracles, of which we learn most from the masterly description of Sophocles in the Trachinice, is generally supposedto have been connected with his expedition against Eurytus. The hero, who could not forget the ignominious treatment he had received at the hands of Eurytus, now marched with an army from Trachis against OEchalia. The town and citadel were taken by storm, and Eurytus and his sons slain; whilst the beautiful lole, who was still unmarried, fell into the hands of the conqueror. Heracles now withdrew with great booty, hut halted on the

promontoryof Censeuni, oppositethp Locrian coast, raisean to

altar and offer a solemn sacrifice of thanksgiving to his father

Zeus. Deianira, who was tormentedwith jealous misgivings

concerninglole, thought it was now high time to make use of the charm of ISTessus. She accordingly sent her husband a white sacrificial garment, which she anointed with the ointment

prepared from the blood of the Centaur. Heracles donnedthe garmentwithout suspicion,but scarcelyhad the flamesfrom the altar heatedthe poison than it penetrated body of the theunhappy hero. In the most fearful agony he strove to tear off

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the garment, but in vain, for it stuck like a plaster to his skin; and wliere he succeeded rending it away by force, it tore oufc in

great piecesof his flosh at the sametime. In his frenzy he

seized the herald Lichas, the bearer of the unfortunate present,

and violently dashedhim in piecesagainsta rock of the sea.

In this state Heracleswas brought to Trachis, where he found that Deianira, full of sorrow and despair on learning the consequencesof her act, had put an end to her own life. Convinced

that curewashopeless, dying hero proceeded the fromrTrachis

to (Eta, and there erected a funeral pile on which to end his torments. JSTone those around him, however, would consent of to set the pile on fire, until Poaas, the father of Philoctetes,

happened pass and rendered the service, return for to by, him inwhich Heracles presented him with his bow and arrows. As the flames rosehigh, a cloud descendedfrom heaven,and, amid

furious pealsof thunder,a chariotwith four horses, driven by Athene, appeared and bore the illustrious hero to Olympus,where he was joyfully received by the gods. He here became reconciled to Hera, who gave him the hand of her beauteous

daughter Hebein marriage.

Y. HERACLES G-OD.-We have already laid before our AS

readers mostcharacteristic the features the myth. To interpret of

it and traceit back in all its details to the original sourceswould

be, amidthe mass provincialand foreignlegends of with which

it is amalgamated,almost impossible. Thus much is certain, however, that, apart from the conceptionswhich were engrafted on the story from Tyrian and Egyptian sources,even in the case

of the GreekHeracles, myths based natural phenomena on are

mixed up with historical and allegorical myths. The historic

element, instance, apparent the warsof Heracles for is in against

the Dryopes-against Augeas, Neleus, and Hippocoon. Here the exploits of the whole Dorian race are personified in the

of thehero. Ontheotherhand, mostof his single in

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combats a symbolic meaning, derived from natural phenomena, is unmistakeable. Heracles, in fact, appears to have been, originally, a symbol of the power of the sun triumphing over the dark powers in nature. Driven from Argos by the worship of the Argive Hera, he first sank to the level of a hero, but was, subsequently,again raised to the dignity of a god. This occurred at a time when the gods of Greece had altogether cast aside

their physicalmeaning;so that he wasnow regarded principally

froman ^ethical pointof view. He appears a symbol that as of

lofty force of character which triumphs over all difficulties and obstacles. Poets and philosophers alike vied with each other in presenting him to the youth of their country in this character, pointing to his career as a brilliant example of what a man might accomplish, in spite of a thousand obstacles, by mere determination and force of will. The well-known allegory of

the sophist Prodicus,*called " The Choiceof Hercules,"is an

instance of the mode in which the history of the hero was used to inculcate moral precepts. In the religious system of the Greeks, Heracles was specially honoured as the patron of the gymnasia; the gymnasium of Cynosarges Athens being solely dedicated to him. After his in deification, Heracles was also regarded in the character of a

saviourand benefactor his nation; as one who had not only of

merited the lasting gratitude of mankind by his deeds throughout an active and laborious life-in having rid the world of giants and noxious beasts, in having extinguished destructive forces of nature, and abolished human sacrifices and other

barbarous institutions of antiquity-but also as a kindly and

beneficent deity, ever ready to aiford help and protection to* Prodicus, a native of the island of Ceos,wasan elder contemporaryof Socrates, bike the latter, he taught in Athens, and met with a similar fate, having heen condemned death as an enemyof the popular religion to and a corruptor of the Athenian youth.

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In this character he was known

mankind in the hour of need.

by the namesof Soter (Saviour) and Alexicacus(averter of evil). He had temples festivalsin variouspartsof Greece. andIn Marathon, which boastedof being the first seat of his worship,

games were celebrated his honour everyfour years,at which in silver cups weregivenasprizes. Thefourth day of everymonthwas held sacredto him, this day being regarded as his birthday.

We havealready mentioned legendary the introduction of his worship into Koine.* Hercules, he was calledin Italy, was asidentified with the Italian hero Recaranus. He had an alfar in the

Forum Boarium, established,according to tradition, by Evander.

The Romanpoets, course, of devoted especial attention to the storiesof his journeythroughItaly, and his fight with Cacus.In Heracles ancientart soughtto portray the conception gigantic of bodily strength. He is, therefore,generally represented a fullas grown man-rarely asa child or youth. We may observe manner the in which the prominent idea of physical force is expressedby regarding the formation of the neck and throat in the statue of Heracles. Nothing can express better a bull-like strength than the short neck and the prominentmuscles, especially associated if with a broad, deepchest. We shall be able to appreciatethis distinctive characterstill more clearly if we compare form of Heracles the with that of the ideal god Apollo, whoseneck is especiallylong and slender. The figure of Heracles moreover,characterised a head is, by small in comparison with the giant body; by curly hair, bushy eyebrows, and musculararmsand legs. This conception principally was developed Myron and Lysippus. A statue of Heraclesby the byformer artist played a part in connection with the art robberies of Verres in Sicily. Lysippus erected several celebrated statues of Heracles, the most remarkable of which was the bronze colossus in

Tarentum,which the Romans, after the captureof that town, transferred to the Capitol. Thence it was brought, by order of Coustantine, to his new capital of Constantinop'e, where it remained until the Latin crusade 1202,when it wasmeltedclown. Lysippus of portrayedin this statuea mourning Heracles, which no onehad ever without his weapons, left elbow restingon his left leg, while his his

attempted beforehim. The hero appeared a sitting posture, in

* There seems ground for thinking that the Italian Hercules was properly a rural deity confoundedwith Heracleson account of the similarity of their names; while Recaranus properly corresponded with the great Heraclesiu meaning.

Fig. 58.-Parnese Hercules.

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

head,full of thought and sorrow,rests on the openhand. The same artist, in a still greaterwork, depictedthe twelve laboursof Heracles. These formed a group which was originally executedfor Alyzia, aseaport town of Acarnania, but which was, subsequently, likewisetransferred to Eome.

First amongexisting statuesis the Farnese Hercules (Fig. 58).

This celebrated colossal statue, now in the Naples Museum, was discovered in 1540, on the site of the Thermee of Caracalla. The hero

is standing upright,resting left shoulder his club,fromwhich his on

hangshis lion's skin. This attitude, as well as the head drooping towardsthe breast, the gloomygravity of his countenance, and clearlyshow that the hero feels bowed down by the burden of his laborious

life. Eventhethoughtthat he is soon bereleased Iris ignoto from

minious servitude(he holds behind him, in his right hand,the three applesof the Hesperides, fruit of his last labour) is unable to thecheer him, and his thoughts seem to revert only to the past. On account of the conception of the piece, and the existence of another

copybearingthe nameof Lysippus,the Farnese Herculesis supposed to be a copy of a work of Lysippus, of which nothing further isknown.

Still more important as a work of art, though it has reached in us a terribly mutilated condition-minus hoad,arms,and legs-is thecelebrated Torso of Hercules, in the Vatican.stood.

This was found in

Rome during the reign of Pope Julius II., on a spot where the theatre of Pompey,of which it was probably an ornament, once Groups.-Heracles actionwasa still more favourite subjectwith in artists, who delightedto portray the different scenes his versatile of life. Numberlessrepresentations such scenes of occur,not only in the form of statuesand works in relief, but more especially on

ancient vases.Wementionhere, the chronological in orderoif the

events, some of the most important.

1. Heracles theSerpents.-Thisscene early depictedby the and was celebrated painter Zeuxis,who represented Heracles stranglingthe as serpents, whilst Alcmene and Amphitryon stoodby in amazement. There are also severalstatuesrepresentingthis feat, amongwhich that at Florence takes the first rank. There is also a painting from Hcrcnlaneumin the NaplesMuseum.2. The Twelve Labours.-These have naturally been treated of

times out of number. We have already mentionedthe groups of Lysippus,which he executed the town of Alyzia. A still existing for bronze statue in the Capitoline Museum, representing Heracles battling with the Hydra, appearsto belong to this series. Among interesting remains the metope are reliefs on the Theseumat Athens. Ten on the eastside of the templerepresentscenes from the life of Heracles. Nine of them belong to the twelve labours, viz., the

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217

Ncmeanlion, the Hydra, tlie Arcadian hind, the Erymanthian boar, the hordesof Diomedes, Cerberus,the girdle of Hippolyte, Geryon, and the Hesperides;whilst the tenth tablet representshis contest with Cycnus. The remains of the splendid temple of Zeus at Olympia, which was completedabout 435 B.C., less important. are The metopes the front and back of the temple containedsix of the of laboursof Heracles. Tho.<e representing contestwith the Cretan the bull, the dying lion, a portion from the tight with Geryon,and some other fragments, werefound in 1829, and conveyed the museumof to the Louvre at Paris. The only one which is perfect,however,is the spirited and life-like representationof the strugglewith the Cretanbull.

3. Parerga (Subordinate Deeds).-First amongthesecomethe scenes from his contestwith the Centaurs, which were frequently treatedof in art. Groups of these exist in the museum at Florence; there are alsovariousrepresentations be found on vases. His adventure to with Nessus represented is separatelyon a Pompeianpainting in. the NaplesMuseum; Nessus crouches a humble posturebeforeHeraincles, who has the little Hyllus in his arms, and he appears to be

askingpermission carry Deianira across stream. There is also to the an interesting representationof the releaseof Prometheuson the Sarcophagus the Capitol,from the Villa Pamnli, which is, in other of respects, worthy of mention. The seizureof the tripod at Delphi also is also frequently portrayedin art. 4. Heracles Omphale.-Of the monuments and referring to Heracles7 connection with Omphale, mostimportant is the beautiful Farnese thegroup in marble in the Naples Museum.

lion's skin round her beautiful limbs, and holds in her right hand the hero'sclub. Thus equipped,she smilestriumphantly at Heracles,who is clothed in female attire, with a distaff in his hand.

Omphale has thrown the

5. Heraclesand Telephus.-The romantic history of Telephuswas

also frequently treated of in art.

fine painting,representing discoveryof the child after it has be,en the suckled by the hind, on which occasion,strange to say, Heracles himself is present. In the Vatican Museum there is a fine marble K'roup, representing Heracleswith the child Telephusin his arms. 7. Attic Legend.-1. Cecrops.-Cecrops, the first founder of civilisation in Attica, plays a similar part here to that which Cadmus does in Thebes. Like Cadmus, he was afterwards called an immigrant; indeed he was said to have comefrom Sais in Lower Egypt. In his case3 however, we are able to trace the rise of the erroneous tradition with far greater distinctness,

The Naples Museum possesses a

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

Pure Attic tradition recognises him only as an autochthonthat is, an original inhabitant born of the earth; and further adds, that, like the giants, he was half man and half serpent. As the mythical founder of the state, he was also

regarded the builder of the citadel (Cecropia); and maras

riage, as well as other political and social institutions, were ascribed to him. Perhaps he is only a local personification of Hermes. The probability of this view is greatly enhanced by the fact that his three daughters, Herse, Aglaupis, and Pandrosus, received divine honours. It was under Cecropsthat the celebrated contest occurred between Poseidon and

Athene for the possessionof Attica, and was by his means decided in favour of the goddess. We have already given an account of it, and need only here remark that the story is purely the result of the observation of natural phenomena. In Attica, in fact, there are only two seasons-a cold, wet, and rainy winter (Poseidon), and a warm, dry, genial summer (Pallas). These seem to be continually striving for the supremacy of the land. Cecrops was succeeded in the

government Cranaiis, by who is represented some his son. by as

The commonmythological account places the flood of Deucalion in his reign. After the expulsion of Cranaiis, Amphictyon, one of the sons of Deucalion, succeededto the sovereignty of Attica, of whom nothing more is known than that he was deprived of the governmentby Ercchtheus. 2. Erechtheus, Erichthomus.-Erechtheus, or Erichthonius, or is really only a second Cecrops-the mythical founder of the state after the flood, as Cecrops was before it. Being also earthborn, he is, like Cecrops,endowed with a serpent'sform. There was another very sacred legend concerning him, which stated that Gsea(Ge), immediately after his birth, gave him to the goddessPallas to nurse. The latter first entrusted him to the daughtersof Cecrops,her attendants and priestesses, enclosedin

Provincial Heroic Legends.

219

a chest. The latter, however, prompted by curiosity, opened the chest, contrary to the commands of the goddess,and were punished in consequence with madness. Erichthonius was now reared by the goddessherself in her sanctuary on the citadel, and was subsequentlymade king of Athens. The same stories are then related of him as of Cecrops-that he regulated the state, introduced the worship of the gods,and settled the disputebetween Poseidon and Athene.

The tomb of Erechtheus was shown in the Erechtheum, the ancient temple dedicated to Athene Polias, where the neverdying olive tree createdby the goddesswas also preserved. Two among the daughters of Erechtheus are celebrated in legend. The first is Orithyia, who was carried off by Boreas, and became the mother of Calais and Zetes, whom we come acrossagain in the story of the Argonauts; the other is Procris, the wife of the handsomehunter Cephalus, who was said to be a son of Hermes by Herse, the daughter of Cecrops. Cephalus was carried off by Eos, who was unable to shake his fidelity to his wife. It served, however, to excite the jealousy of the latter, which ultimately proved fatal to her. Procris had hidden herself among the bushes,in order to watch her husband, when Cephalus, taking her for a wild animal, unwittingly killed her. After the death of Erechtheus, the tragic poets relate that Ion, the mythical ancestor of the lonians, ruled in Athens. This meansnothing more than that the primitive Pelasgian age in Attica had now come to an end, and the dominion of the lonianscommenced.

3. Theseus.-Theseus is the national hero of the lonians, just as Heracles is of the ^Eolians. He has not unjustly been called the secondHeracles; and he has, indeed, many features in common with the ^Eolian hero, since the national jealousy of the lonians led them to adopt every possible meansof making their own hp.rorival that of their neighbours. They therefore strove

220

Greek and Roman Mythology.

to representhim, likewise, as a hero tried in numberlesscontestsgenerous, unselfish, and devoted to the interests of mankindand of course ascribed to him a multitude of adventurous ex-

ploits. There is no great undertakingof antiquity in which

Theseus is not supposed to have taken part, and he was even sent on an expedition to hell, in imitation of Heracles. He was the son of the Athenian king ^Egeus,whom mythological tradition made a great-grandson of Erechtheus. After his father Pandion had been driven out by his relations, the sons of Metion, ^geus betook himself to Megara, where he was hospitably receivedby the ruler, Pylas. From Megara, ^Egeus, Pallas, Nisus, and Lycus, the sons of Pandion, undertook an expedition against Athens, which ended in the expulsion of the MetionidsB,and the restoration of the former royal family in the person of ^Egeus. Such, at least, is the tradition; although it is more probable that Athens never had a king of this name,and

that .ZEgeus (waveman)is only a surnameof Poseidon,the

chief deity of the seafaring lonians. JEgeus, though twice married, had no heir, and now undertook a journey to Delphi to seek the advice of the oracle. On his way back he stopped at the court of Pittheus, king of Trcezen,and became, by his

daughter ^Ethra,the father of Theseus. Before his departure, he placedhis sword and sandals beneatha heavy stone,andcommanded ^Etlira to send his son to Athens as soon as he was able to move the stone and take his father's sword. Theseus

was carefully trained in music and gymnastics by the sagacious Pittheus, and soon developed into a stately youth. He is also

supposed have beeneducated the Centaur to by Chiron,whose

instruction had now become a necessary item in the educationof a real hero.

When Theseuswas sixteen, his mother took him to the stone beneath which lay his father's sword and sandals. With a slight effort he raised the stone, and thus entered on his heroic

Provincial Heroic Legends.

221

career. His earlier adventures consisted in overcoming a series of obstacles that beset him in his journey from Troezen to

Athens. They are generally supposed have been six in to

number.

1. Between Troezenand Epidaurus he slew Periplietes, the

sonof Hephaestus-who lame, his father-"because was was like he in the habit of murdering travellerswith his iron club; whencehe is called Corynetes,or club-bearer. 2. He next delivered the Isthmus from another powerfulrobber called Sinis. He used to fasten travellers who fell into

his handsto the top of a pine tree,which he bent to the earth,

and then allowed to recoil; after which, on their reaching the ground, he would kill them outright; whence he is called Pityo-

camptes, pine-bender. Theseus or inflicted the samefate on

him.

3. In the woody district of Oommyon he destroyed a dangerous wild sow that laid waste the country. 4. Not far from this, on the rock of Sciron, on tlio borders of Megara, dwelt another monster, called Sciron, who compelled travellers to wash his feet, and then kicked them into the sea.Theseus served him in a similar fashion.

5. In the neighbourhood of Eleusis he vanquished the giant Cercyon,who compelled all who fell into his hands to wrestlewith him.

6. His last combatawaitedhim on the confinesof Eleusis, wheredwelt the inhumanDamastes. This monsterused to layhis victims in a bed : if this was too short, he would hack olf

their projecting limbs; if too long, he would beat out and pullasunder their limbs, whence he is called Procrustes. He was also slain by Theseus.

On reaching Athens,he found his father yEgeus the toils of in

the dangerous sorceressMedea, who had fled from Corinth to

Athens. Shewason the point of makingawaywith the new-

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

comerby poison,whenJEgeus, fortunately,recognised him by

the sword he bore, and preserved him from his impendingfate.

Medea was compelled flee; but a new danger to awaitedthe

hero from the fifty sons of Pallas, who had reckoned on suc-

ceeding their childlessuncle^geus.

Theseus, however, slew

somein battle and expelled the rest. He now undertook his greatest and most adventurous feat, in order to free his country from its shameful tribute to Minos,

king of Crete,whoseson, the youthful hero Androgeos, had

been treacherouslymurdered by the Athenians and Megareans. Another account says that he was sent by .SSgeus against the bull of Marathon, and thus slain. At any rate, Minos undertook a war of revenge. He first marched against Megara, of which ]^"isus,the brother of .ZEgeus, was king. Minos conquered him by meansof his own daughter Scylla, who becameenamouredof Minos, and cut off from her father's head the purple lock on which his life depended. After having taken Megara and slain Nisus, Minos marched against Athens. Here he was equally successful,and compelled the vanquished Athenians to expiate the blood of his son by sending, every eight or (according to the Greek method of reckoning) every nine years, sevenyouths and sevenmaidensto be devoured by the Minotaur. This was a monster, half man and half bull. Twice already had the bloody tribute been sent, and the third fell just after Theseus' arrival in Athens; he at oncebravely offeredto go amongthe allotted victims. He wasresolvedto do battle with the Minotaur, and to stake his life on the liberation of his country from the shameful tribute. Under the guidance of Aphrodite he passedover to Crete, and soon discoveredthe efficacyof her protection. The goddesskindled a passionatelove for the hero in the breast of

Provincial Heroic Legends.

223

him.with a clew of thread,by meansof which Theseus, after

having slain the Minotaur, was enabled to find his way out of the Labyrinth. We have already narrated how Ariadne was deserted by Theseus on the isle of Naxos, only to becomethe bride of Dionysus, the divine son of Semele. Theseus also landed at Delos, where he instituted the festival of the Delia in honour of. the divine children of Leto. On reaching Athens, he showed his gratitude to his divine protectress by the institution o4 the worship of Aphrodite Pandemus. In honour of Dionysus and Ariadne, he instituted the Oschophoria, in which festival Athene also had a share. Lastly, in honour of Apollo, he instituted the Pyanepsia, a festival which was celebrated on the seventh day of the month Pyanepsion (end of October). The happy return of Theseus from his Cretan expedition, however, proved the death of his aged father. JGgeus, as he stood on the coast looking for his son's return, perceivedthat the ships had black sails instead of white, which were to have been hoisted in the event of his son's success; and believing that all was lost, he cast himself headlong into the sea. This story was perhaps only invented to account for the name of the JEgean Sea. With regard to the other exploits of Theseus,there exists the greatest variety of accounts as to the order in which they took place. As king, he is said to have been the first to unite the separate districts of Attica into one political community, with one state Prytaneum, and to have instituted the festival of the Panathenseain commemoration of this event. The following, among his later exploits, are worthy of mention:-

1. He capturedthe bull of Marathon (saidto have been the same which Heracles broughtalive from Crete),and sacrificed itin Athens to Apollo Delphinius. 2. He assistedhis friend Pirithoiis, the prince of the Lapithse,in his contest with the Centaurs.

224

Greekand Roman Mythology.

3. He undertook with Pirithous an expedition to Lacedsemon,

in which they carriedoff Helen,the sisterof the Dioscuri.

4. At the request of Pirithous, he accompaniedhim to the lower world to carry oil Persephone; but Hades, enraged at their audacity, causedthem both to be bound in chains and fastened to a rock. Theseuswas rescued from this plight by Heracles,but during his absencethe Dioscuri had released their sister from Aphidnse,where she was confined.

5. He next joined Heraclesin his expedition againstthe

Amazons, and received, as the reward of victory, their queen Antiope, or Hippolyte. Another tradition assertsthat Antiope followed him of her own free will to Athens, where she was married to him, and became the mother of Hippolytus, famed for his unhappy fate. His great beauty causedhis step-mother Phaedra,a later wife of Theseus,and a sister of Ariadne, to fallin love with him. As he withdrew himself from her dishonour-

able proposals night, she accusedhim to his father of attempts by on her virtue. Theseus, in his wrath, besought Poseidon to punish his faithless son; and the god, who had sworn to grant any request of Theseus,sent a wild bull (i.e., a breaker) out of the seaas Hippolytus was driving in his chariot along the seashore. This so terrified his horsesthat Hippolytus was thrown from Ms chariot, and dragged along the ground till lie was dead. This story-the sceneof which was afterwards transferred to Troezen, whither Theseuswas supposedto have fled on account of a murder-was dealt with in a touching manner by the tragic

poets. The Hippolijtm of Euripidesis still extant.

6. As a result of the carrying off of Antiope, a secondcontest with the Amazons was subsequently invented, in which Theseus

wasengaged alone, and which took placein the immediate

neighbourhoodof Athens. The Amazons are supposedto have ftivaded Attica, in order to releasetheir queen. Antiope, however, was so enamoured of Theseus that she refused to return,

Provincial Heroic Legends.

was slain.

225

and fought at her husband's side, against her kindred, until she

Lastly, Theseus saidto have taken part in the Calydonian is

boar hunt, and also in the expedition of the Argonauts, of which we shall have more to say hereafter. The death of Theseusis commonly agreedto have taken place in the following manner:-He had been deprived of the sovereignty of Athens by Menestheus, who was aided by the

Dioscuri and then withdrew to the island of Scyros. Here he j

was at first hospitably received, but subsequently murdered in a treacherous manner by Lycomedes, the ruler of the island. Demophoon, the son of Theseus, is said to have afterwards recoveredhis father's kingdom. At a still later period the bones of the hero were brought to Athens by Cimon, at the command of the Delphic oracle. Ciinon is also supposedto have caused the erection of the temple of Theseus, which still exists in Athens, and serves as an arb museum. The eighth day of every month was held sacred to Theseus, besides which he

Fig. 59.-Elgin

Theseus.

British Museum,

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Greek and RomanMythology.

had a special festival, called the Thesea, on the eighth of Pyanepsion.

Art has folio wed

the example of

the poetsandmythologists in depicting Theseusas

a second Heracles.

Here, however,the characteristic differences thatexisted between

the Doric and Ionic races beJust

come apparent.in elastic-

as the latter

racesurpassed theformer

ity, both of mind

and body,sotheirnational hero

gives token not only of a higher intellectual being, but also of a body more lithe, and

capableof greaterswiftness and dexof the Doric hero.

terity, than that The slighter and more elegant form of Theseus lacks, perhaps, the sheer brute strength of

Heracles,but is compensated the possession a far greater by of degree of activity and adroitness. The expressionof face is more amiable and the hair less bristling than that of Heracles, while there is generallyno beard. Such is Theseusas depictedby Greek art at trie epoch of its full development; later art strove

Provincial Heroic Legends.

to render the form of the body still more litiie and graceful. of the Attic youth.

227The

costumeof Theseusconsists,like that of his prototype Heracles, of a lion's skin and club; sometimes also of the chlamysand petasus in his case than in that of Heracles. If the explanationis correct, the British MuseumpossessesTheseus pricelessvalue. Among a of the statues the Parthenonwhich have beenpreserved, of there is one of a figure negligently reclining on a lion's skin, which, with the exceptionof the nose, hands,and feet, is in a tolerably goodstate of preservation(Fig. 59). It belongedto the great group of the east gable,which represented first appearance the new-bornAthene the of to the astonishedgods. It is the figure of a youth in his prime, somewhatlarger than life, and altogether a perfect ideal of manly beauty. A representation the conflict of Theseus of with the invading army of the Amazonsstill exists on a large piece of frieze-work,which, togetherwith the representations the battle of the Lapithse and of Centaurs(which have been already mentioned),formerly decoratedExisting art monuments are far less numerous

the wallsof theshrine Apollo's of temple Phigalia, is nowthe in and"

property of the British Museum. Among the Greek warriors Theseusmay be easily recognised his lion's skin and the club, by ably the leaderof the hostile army. We give an engraving of thescene where Theseus obtained the sword and sandals of his father

which heis in theact swinging "of against mounted a Amazon, probfrom beneaththe rock, after a relief in the Villa Albani (Fig. 60). 8. Cretan Legend.-1. Minos and the Minotaur.-Cretan myths aro both, obscure and difficult of interpretation, because Phoenician and Phrygian influences made themselves felt at a

very early period, and native sources fail us. Minos is commonly supposed have beenthe first king of the country. He towas the son of Zeus and Europa, who is called in Homer a

daughterof Phoenix. This Phcenixwassubsequently made into Agenor,a Phoenician, king of Sidon; and the story then arose that Zeus, the form of a white bull, had carriedoff Europa, inand arrived with his lovely prey in Crete. Europa is there

said to have given birth to Minos, Ehadamanthys(Rhadarnanthus), and some say Sarpedon. She afterwardsmarriedAsterion, who brought up the sons of Zeus as Ids own children,

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

He, after

and, at his death, left the kingdom to Minos.

expelling his "brothers Sarpedonand Ehadamanthus, became soleking of Crete. Of his brothers,Sarpedon went to Lycia, whilst the pious Khadarnanthus found a refuge in Boeotia. Minos next marriedPasiphae, daughterof Helios and Perse'is, a by whom he became father of Catreus, the who succeeded him,Deucalion, Glaucus, and Androgeos, besides several daughters,of whom the most celebrated are Ariadne and Phaedra. Minos

gavewiselawsto his people, and became supreme seaamong at

the isles of the ^Egean Sea, and even as far as Attica. In his

name find the same (meaning to think ") which wehave we root "seen in Minerva, and which appearsin the name of the Indian lawgiver Manu. In order to vindicate his right to the crown, Minos besought Poseidon to send him a bull out of the sea,which he was then to sacrificeto the god. Poseidon granted his prayer, but Minos was induced by the beauty of the animal to place it among his own herds. As a punishment of his perfidy, Poseidon kindled in the breast of Pasiphae an unnatural love for the bull, and the fruit of their connection was the Minotaur. This was a monster, half man and half bull, which Minos shut up in the labyrinth that had been made by the skill of Daedalus. The food of the monster consisted of human beings, who were partly criminals

and partly youths and maidens, sent as tribute from the subjugatedcountries. This lasteduntil Theseus came Crete, to and,with the aid of Ariadne and Daedalus,destroyed the Minotaur.

Suchis the substance this perplexingmythical tradition, of of

which the simplest interpretation is that the Minotaur was

originally an ancientidol of the Phoenician sun-god Baal,which

had the form of a bull, and to which human sacrifices were

offered. The destruction of the Minotaur by Theseus a is symbol of the triumph of the higher Greek civilisation over

Provincial Heroic Legends.

sacrifices.

229

Phoenician barbarism, and tlie consequent abolition ol Iranian

Closely connected with, the royal family of Crete we find

Daedalus,the most celebrated artist of the legendary period. He is said to have been a son of Metion, and a descendant of Erechtheus, and to have fled from Athens to Crete after murdering his nephew Talus in a fit of professional jealousy. During his residence in Crete he constructed the Labyrinth, an underground building with an endless maze of passages, a as dwelling-place for the Minotaur; besidesmany other wonderful works of art. Eor having aided Theseus in his combat with the Minotaur, Dsedalusand his son Icarus were both imprisoned in the Labyrinth of Minos. The story of his flight, which he accomplished by means of the artificial wings that he made for himself and his son, is well known from the Metamorphosesof Ovid. Icarus fell into the sea that is named after him, and was drowned, but Dcedalus reached Cumae in safety. From this place he passedover to Sicily, where he was hospitably received by Cocalus. "When Minos, however, pursued the fugutivo and demanded his surrender, not only was his request refused, but he was even put to death by the contrivance of the king's daughters.

Of the othersonsof Minos, Deucalionis celebrated having as

taken part in the Calydonian boar hunt, and also as the father of the hero Idomeneus, who fought against Troy. Glaucus was

killed, while yet a boy, by falling into a cask of honeyas he

was pursuing a mouse. He is reported, however, to have been

restoredto life by the Corinthianaugur Polyidus,or, according

to others, by Asclepius himself.

2. Tolas.-The legendof Talos,the brazen man,betrayslikewise a Phoenician origin, and refers to the cruel practice ofoffering human sacrifices. This Talos was made of brass, and was invulnerable. Hephaestus, as others sav. Zeus pave him or,

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Greek and fioman Mythology.

to Minos as guardian of the island of Crete, round which he travelled thrice a-day. If he perceived any strangers approach

he would spring into the fire, and, after becomingred-hot, he would claspthem to his breast,until they expiredbeneath thesardonic chuckle of the demon. He attempted to drive off the

Argonauts with stones, wasdestroyed the skill of Medea. but by Taloshad a singlevein,which ran from his headto his feet,and was closedat the top with a nail. This nail Medeacleverly succeeded extracting, consequence which Talosffbledto in in ofdeath.

IV.-COMBINED

UNDERTAKINGSHEROIC AGE.

OF

THE

LATER

I. The Calydordan Hunt.-The story of Meleagor.and the Calydonian boar hunt was undoubtedly,in its origin, nothing more than a provincialmyth based naturalphenomena, on likeother myths that we have already explained. In this casethe

physicalsignificance involved in the myth soon disappeared, owingto the treatment receivedat the handsof the epic and it dramatic poets. The poets,in fact, succeeded introducing in some striking ethical conceptions, which absorbed higher allinterest.

CEneus,king of Calydon in -ZEtolia, on the occasion of

a great festivalwhich was celebrated after a successful vintage,

had accidentally or purposely omitted to sacrifice to Artemis.

To punish this neglectshesenta hugewild boar,which devastated the fields of Calydon, and seemedinvincible by any ordinarymeans account its vast size. Meleager, brave on of theand heroic son of QEneus, therefore assembledmen and hounds

in great numberto slayit.

The boar was slain; but Artemis

stirred up strife over the head and hide between the ^Etolians

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age.

231

and the Curetesof Pleuron. At first the former were victorious;

but whenMeleager withdrew in wrath from the battle because

his mother had cursedhim for the death of her brother, they were

no longerable to keepthe field, and soonsawtheir city closely invested their enemies. In vain did the elders and priests by of Calydonbeseech Meleager in vain did his father, sisters, ; andeven mother beseechhim to aid his hard-pressed countrymen. Like Achilles in the Trojan war, when he was wroth with

Agamemnon accountof the loss of Eriseis, Meleagerlong on

refused to stir. At last his wife-the beautiful Cleopatrasucceededin moving him. He donned his armour, and put himself at the head of his countrymen for a sally against the

besiegers.Brilliant, indeed, was the victory of the men of Calydon; but the heroMeleager not return from the battle, didfor the cruel Erinyes, who had heard his mother's curse, destroyed him with the arrows of Apollo. Such is the earliest form of the legend, as it exists in the Iliad. In time, however, Meleager was said to have called together against the boar all the renowned heroes of Greece. Among others there came the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux; Theseus and his friend Pirithoiis; Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus; Adrnetus of Pherse; Jason, from lolcus; Iphicles and lolaiis, from Thebes; Peleus, the father of Achilles; Telamon, from Salamis; Ancseusand the beautiful huntress Atalante

(Atalanta),from Arcadia; besidesthe soothsayer Aniphiarails, from Argos. After QEneus entertainedhis guestsroyally had for nine days,the hunt began,and the hugebeast,which wasas large as an ox, was surrounded and driven from its lair. Atalante, the swift huntress, was the first to inflict a wound.

Ancaeus then advancedwith his battle-axe, but the enraged beast, with one strokeof his dreadfultusks, tore openhis bodyand killed him on the spot. At length the monster received a

mortal wound from a spearhurled by the powerful arm of

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Meleager, and was soon despatched by the rest. Meleager received as his due the head and hide of the slaughteredanimal,

but resigned prize to Atalante,of whomhe was enamoured, the

on the ground that she was the first to wound the boar. This act excited the bitter jealousy of Plexippus and Toxeus, the sons of Thestius, king of Pleuron, and brothers of Althaea,the mother of Meleager. They accordingly lay in wait for Atalante, and robbed her of the present. Enraged at this, Meleager slew them both. But Meleager'sdeath, though causedby the wrath of his mother, was worked out differently in the time of the tragic poets. The Fates had appearedto Althaea, soon after the birth of Meleager,and informed her that her son would only live until a certain brand, which was then burning on the fire, was consumed. Althaea immediately snatched the brand from the flames and carefully treasuredit up. After Meleager had slain

her brothers, in the first outburst of grief and indignation

against her son, she placed the brand again in the fire, and thus

cut off the noble hero in the prime of his youth and beauty.Althaea, on learning the unhappy fate of her son, full of sorrow for her hasty deed, put an end to her own life. 2. The Argonauts.-The story of the Argonauts experienced

a similar fate to that of the Calydonian hunt. It wasoriginally

nothing but a myth based on natural phenomena; but in the hands of the poets it swelled to a mass of legends common to all the tribes of Greece,the nucleus of which was the history of the

golden fleece. Athamas, sonof .dSolus, king of the Minysa, the was He put awayhis first wife, Kepliele (cloud),in orderto mairy Ino, the daughter of Cadmus; though he still kept Phrixus (rain-shower) Eelle (ray of light), his childrenby Nephele, andwith him. By Ino ho had two other children., Learclius and

Melicertes, whom their mothernaturally preferredto her stepchildren, and for whose sake she endeavouredto drive the latter

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age.

233

from their father's house. Soon afterwards, either at the command of JSTephele, whom some represent as a goddess, or in consequence her prayers for the punishment of Athamas, the of land was visited with a long drought, and Ino persuaded her husband to sacrificePhrixus as a sin-offering to Zeus, in order to put an end to the calamity. Whether Helle was to have shared her brother's fate we cannot tell, for, before Ino could accomplish her purpose, Nephele cameto the assistanceof her children, and gave thorn a winged ram with a golden fleece, which Hermes had presentedto her for that purpose. Seated on this ram they fled over the sea to Colchis. On the way Helle fell into that part of the seawhich bears her name, and was drowned, but

Phrixus arrived safelyin Colchis(JEa),where he sacrificed the

ram to Zeus, who had preserved him in his flight. The fleece he hung up in the grove of Ares as a sacred treasure, setting over it a terrible, ever-watchful dragon as its guardian. To fetch this treasure from a foreign land, and thereby to release the country and people of the Minyss from the calamity with which they were oppressed,was the task of the heroes of the race of ^Eolus. Athamas was so grieved at the evil he had

brought on his countrythat he becameinsane,and sought to slayIno and her children. He did, indeed, kill Learchusbydasliing him against a rock, but Ino succeededin saving herself

and heryoungerchild Melicertes leapinginto the sea(cf. Ino by Leucothea). Athamas then fled to Epirus, and the kingdomdevolved on his brother Cretheus. Cretheus married Tyro, the daughter of his younger brother Salxnoneus, king of Elis. Tyro bore him three sons, the eldest of whom, ^Eson, succeededhis

father in the kingdom,but wassoonafter expelledby his stepbrother Pelias, who is described as a son of Tyro and Poseidon. ^Esonwith difficulty managedto rescuehis little son Jason from the hands of Pelias, and brought him to the Centaur Chiron to

be educated. In Chiron's cave the young hero grew up, a

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favouritewith godsand men. After completinghis twentieth

year, he betook himself to lolcus to demand of his uncle his

rightful inheritance. Pelias,not daring to useviolenceto the sturdy youth, endeavoured getrid of his unwelcome to guest byinvolving him in a most dangerousadventure. He declared that

he would gladly resignthe crown if Jason would recoverthe

golden fleece from Colchis. Jason, like a true hero, at once acceptedthe perilous adventure. In the harbour of lolcus he caused a large ship with fifty oars to be constructed, which he called the "Argo," after its builder, Argus. He then called together the heroes,who had consented at his invitation to take part in the expedition. In the original version of the story, the expedition was stated to have been undertaken only by the heroes of the race of the Minyye-such as Acastus, Admetns, and Periclyme'nus. At a later period, however-when the date of the expedition had been fixed at one generation before the Trojan war-no hero of any note was allowed to be absent from the undertaking. In this manner were added the Dioscuri, the sons of Boreas, Calais and Zetes, Telamon, Peleus, Meleager, Tydeus, Iphitus, Theseus, Orpheus, Amphiaraus, and even Heracles. In the last case, the incongruity of allowing the hero to play only a subordinate part was soon felt, and hisname was withdrawn. He was said to have been left behind in

Mysia, where he had landed in order to searchfor his favourite Hylas, who had been carried off by the Naiads. The number of the Argonauts was finally computed at fifty, tallying with thenumber of oars.

The expedition proceededfrom lolcus to Lemnos, and thence

through the Hellespontto Cyzicus,where they were kindly receivedby the Doliones. From Cyzicus they proceeded to Bithynia, where they were opposedby the Bebryces, whoseking, Amyous, was slain by Pollux in a boxing match. Their

greatestdifficulty lay in the passage the Bosporus, of there

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235

"being the entranceof the Pontus (Black Sea)two terrible at rocks, which were in constantmotion-now retreating to the shoreon eitherside,nowhastily dashing togethera.gain; whencethey were called the Symplegades. This occurred so rapidly that even the swiftest vessel had not time enough to get through. The Argonauts were in great perplexity. At length the blind seer Phineus, who dwelt in Thracian Salmydessus, and whose gratitude they won by delivering him from the Harpies who had tormented him, assisted them with his advice. By means of a stratagem he recommendedthey were enabled to bring the Argo through without any considerabledamage,after which the Symplegades remained stationary. After this they stood along the south coasttowards their destination, which, in the original legend, appears to have been the utterly fabulous JEa, subse-

quentlyconverted into Colchis. This wasthe residence the of

mighty king ^etes, a son of the sun-god. To rob him, either by craft or by violence, of the golden fleecewas the task of Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. The second prominent character in the story, Medea, the

daughter ^Eetes, of now makesher appearance.It was,in fact, only through her love that Jasonwas enabledto surmountthevast obstacleswhich stood between him and the possessionof

the golden fleece. When the hero demandedthe fleece of

^Eetes,the latter declared that he would deliver it up to him after he had accomplishedtwo tasks. The first was to harness two brazen-footed,fire-breathing bulls, which JSeteshad received from Hephaestus, a plough, and with them to till an uncultito vated field. The secondwas to sow in the furrows the dragon's teeth that ^Eeteswould give him, and to destroy the armed men which would then spring up. Jason's heart failed him on hearing these conditions, but Medea, who was an enchantress

and priestess Hecate, of was equal to the occasion. Shegave

the hero a magic salve to protect him against the fiery breath of

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the bulls and to endow him with invincible strength, which enabled him to accomplish his first task successfully. In the caseof the armed men who sprang from the dragon's teeth, by the advice of Medea he followed the example of Cadmus,and cast among them a heavy stone, whereupon in blind fury they turned their arms against each other, and were all destroyed. The conditions imposed upon him by ^etes were thus accom plishedj but the king, who perceived that Jason had only succeeded through the aid of his daughter, made this a pretext for refusing to surrender the fleece. Jason then removed it by night from the grove of Ares, after Medea had, by meansof her enchantments,lulled the watchful dragon to sleep. That same night the Argonauts embarked on board their ship and put to sea, Medea accompanying them as the future wife of Jason. The wrathful ^Eetes attempted to overtake the fugitives, but Medea succeeded staying the pursuit by slaying her younger in brother Apsyrtus, whom she had brought with her, and scatteringhis limbs in the sea.

The most diverse accounts exist as to the road taken by the

Argonautson their homeward journey. Somesay that they sailed up the Phasisto the Eastern Sea, and then, passing throughthe RedSeaandLibyan desert,overwhich they had tocarry the Argo twelve days' journey, cameto Lake Tritonis, and thence to the Mediterranean. According to another account, they sought to pass through the Ister (Danube) and Eridanus

(Po) to the WesternOcean;but the objectof this account was

manifestly to subject them to the samevicissitudes and adventures as Odysseus and his companions. At length Jason landed happily in lolcus, and delivered the golden fleeceinto the hands of his uncle. Pelias, however, still refusedto surrender the kingdom to Jason, and Medea therefore determined to make away with him by craft. Having persuaded the daughters of Pelias that she possessed means of making a

Ccmibined Undertakingsof the Later Heroic Age. 237 the old man youngagain, directed them to slaytheir father, she cut him in pieces, boil the limbs in a cauldronfilled with all andmanner of herbs; this they did in the vain expectation of seeing him restored to youth. Jason now took possessionof his father's kingdom, but was soon afterwards expelled by Acastus, the son of Pelias, and took refuge in Corinth. His subsequent misfortunes are well known. Thinking to better his condition, he was about to marry Creusa, the daughter of the king of Corinth, when he was arrested by the fearful vengeance of his first wi&. Medea sent the bride a poisoned garment, which causedher to die an agonising death, and then slew her own children by Jason; after which she fled in her chariot drawn by

winged dragons Athens,where she long found protectionat to

the court of ^Egeus. Jason either put an end to his own life, or was killed by the fall of a rotten beam of the Argo. In the history of the golden fleece we have one of the most

widelyspread myths of all, namely, that of the lossand recovery

of a treasure. In Teutonic tradition we have the treasure of the

Nibelungs, in which the very name is almost identical; and if we include the stories of women carried off and rescued, thelist becomes endless. And the treasure of all those stories has

been interpreted to be the golden clouds. The Dragon which guards the treasure again appears in the story of the apples of the Hesperides,and is closely allied to the Sphinx. 3. The Theban Cycle.-The highly tragic history of the Theban house of the Labdacidse,teeming as it does with im-

portant characters events, at all timesfurnishedsubjects and has

for Greek art and poetry, and has given birth to a whole series of epic and dramatic works. The former, which would have conduced far more to an exact acquaintance with the legend, have, unfortunately, perished, with the exception of a few unimportant fragments; although many important works of the great tragic poets, JSsehylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, relating to the subject, still remain. The common account runs thus:-

Laius, a great-grandson Cadmus, warnedby the oracle of was to

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beget no children, as he was doomed to perish by the hands of his son, who would then marry his mother. When his wife locaste gave birth to a son, Laius accordingly exposedthe child, with its feet pierced, on Mount Cithseron. The child, called QEdipusfrom the swelling of its feet, did not die, but was found

by some Corinthianshepherds, broughtit to Polybus, who king

of Corinth. Polybus, having no children of his own, adopted (Edipus, whc grew up in the belief that Polybus and Merope were his real parents, until one day a taunt of his companions as to his mysterious origin raised doubts in his mind. in order to solve his misgivings, he went to consult the oracle of Delphi, but he here received only the obscure direction not to return to

his country,since,if he did, he would kill his father and marry

his mother. Fearing on this account to return to Corinth, he took the road to Thebes, and thus, by his presumptuous prudence,brought about the very consequences was so anxious he to avoid. On the road he was met by Laius, who was on his way to the oracle to ask its advice concerning the Sphinx. A

quarrel arose, a narow defile, betweenLaius and QEdipus; in and QEdipus his father without knowingwho he was. On slewarriving at Thebeshe succeeded delivering the country from in

the Sphinx. This monster, which had the combined form of a

woman and a lion, had been sent by Hera, whom Laius had in some way offended, from Ethiopia to devastate the land of Thebes. Seatedon a rock close to the town, she put to every one that passed by a riddle, and whoever was unable to solve it, she cast from the rock into a deep abyss. This calamity induced Creon, on the death of his brother-in-law Laius, to proclaim that whoever solved the riddle should obtain the crown and the hand of locaste. (Edipus succeededin solving it, and thus delivered the country from, the monster, who cast herself into the abyss. The Sphinx belongs to the same family as many of the monsters we have spoken of already; she is called by Hesoid the child of Orthros and Chimera, whom we have seen to be

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age. 239 thedaughter Typhonand Echidna. It would seem, of therefore,probable that the contest between her and her opponent may be interpreted in the sameway as that of Bellerophon and the Chimaera,or of Zeus and Typhon. In support of this, the following considerations may be adduced. Since we know that thunder was supposedto be a warning or encouragement to men, it is easyto seein it the mysterious voice of the cloud,

only intelligible to the wisestof men. Hencethe conqueror of

the cloud was called the man who understood her language.

(It would not a little help this idea, that CEdipusmight seemderived from a word meaning "to know.") Then the death of

the Sphinx will be the cloudfalling upon the earthin the shapeof rain. (Edipus, on the other hand, will be the sameantagonist aswe have before seenvictorious over the cloud dragons; the sun, born helpless, rising to take the kingdom after the slaughter of his enemies,yet at last sinking blinded into an unknown grave. This, however, does not cover the crimes laid to his charge. But they have been explained in this way : that when people lost consciousnessof the real meaning of the misfortunes of

CEdipus, castaboutfor someadequate they cause, foundone and

in the two great crimes of incest and parricide. We have seen

something similar to this in the caseof Ixion.

Further, the

namesof the wives assignedby various writers to (Edipus are connectedwith the light, and the name Laius hasbeen interpreted

as "enemy" of the light. Sphinx itself signifies"throtfclor."

In art, the Sphinx had the form of a lion, generally in a recumbent position, with the breast and upper part of a beautiful woman. When the Greekssawsimilar figures in Egypt, they naturally gave them the nameof Sphinx. But name,family, and meaning of the Sphinx arealike Greek,although the Egyptian statueshave taken too firm possession the name ever to lose it. Ancient Egyptian of art revelled in the creationof colossalSphinxes,which were carved out of granite. A notable example of this kind existsin the giant Sphinx nearthe Pyramidsof Gizeh,which is eighty-nine feet long.From such monstrous figures as these, Greek art held aloof.

(Edipus was rewarded with the sovereignty of Thebesand the

hand of locaste; and for severalyearshe enjoyed uninterrupted

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happiness, surrounded by four blooming children, the fruit of his incestuous marriage. By the secret agencyof the goddess,the dreadful truth wasat length discovered. locaste hanged herself, and OEdipus, despair,put out his own eyes. Not content with in this voluntary penance,the hard-heartedThebans compelledhim besidesto leavetheir city and country, while his sonsEteoclesand Polynices, who were now grown up, refused to stir a foot in their father's behalf. (Edipus, after invoking bitter curses on their heads,withdrew, and, guided by his faithful daughter Antigone, at last found an asylum in the grove of the Eumenidesat Oolonus, near Athens. His grave there was regarded, in consequence of an ancient responseof the oracle, as a national treasure.The curse of their father took effect on his unnatural sons.

The elder, Eteocles,drove out his brother Polynices, who then

sought assistance Adrastus, the of king of Argos. Adrastus was a grandson Bias,of the ra-ce the Amythaonidse, by his of of andmarriage with the daughter of the wealthy Polybus acquired the sovereignty of Sicyon. He not only hospitably received the

fugitive Polynices, gavehim his daughter marriage, but in and promised assist to him in recovering crown of Thebes. In thethis expedition Adrastus sought to gain the aid of the other

Argive heroes. They all declared their readiness accompany to

him, with the exception of Amphiaraiis, his brother-in-law, who was equally renowned for his wisdom and courage. Amphiaraiis was a great-grandson of the celebrated seer Melampus, and inherited from him the gift of prophecy. He was thus enabled to perceivethe disastrous termination of the war, and strove to hinder it. But Polynices and the fiery Tydeus-likewise a sonin-law of Aclrastus-were so unceasingin their entreaties,that he at length sought to escape their importunity by flight. Polynices, however, bribed his wife Eriphyle, by the present of a magnificent necklace, which had formerly beengiven to Harmonia

on the occasion her marriage of with Cadmus, betrayhis place to of concealment.Hereupon Amphiaraiis obligedunwillingly was to join the expedition, which endedas hehad prophesied. The

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age. 241

attack on Thebes was not only repulsed, "but all the Argive

leaders, with the exceptionof Adrastus, who wassaved by the

fleetnessof his horse,were slain. Polynices and Eteocles fell in

singlecombat with eachother. The flight of Adrastusto Attica,

where he procured the assistanceof Theseus in compelling the

Thebans grant the fallen heroesa solemnburial, is a feature to

unknown to the original legend, and may be ascribed to the

patrioticimpulsesof the Athenian dramatists. The celebrated

tragedy of Sophocles,called Antigone, is based on the assumption that Creon, the new king of Thebes, allowed the burial of the other heroes,but left Polynices to lie unburied on the field like a dog, and condemnedAntigone to death becauseshe ventured to bury her brother in despite of his command. Creon was destined to meet with a dreadful retribution, for his own son, who wasbetrothed to Antigone, killed himself in grief at her fate. Ten years later, the sons of the fallen heroes are said to have combined with j^Egialeus,the son of Adrastus, to avenge their fathers' defeat. This expedition has therefore been called the

war of the Epigoni (descendants), not being undertaken, and

like that of their fathers, in manifest opposition to the will of the gods, proved successful. Laodamas, the savage son of Eteocles, who was now king of Thebes, was defeated in a decisive battle near Thebes, and, after ^Egialeus had fallen by his hands, was himself slain by Alcmaeon, the son of .Amphiaraiis. The Thebanswere unable any longer to hold their city, and, following the advice of the blind seer Tiresias, they withdrew under the cover of darkness and mist. The aged Tiresias expired on the road, at the fountain of Tilphusa; of the rest, some took refuge in Thessalia, and some sought other lands. The victorious Argives, after plundering and partly destroying the city, dedicateda great portion of the booty-among which

wasManto, the daughterof Tiresias-to the oracleof Delphi. Theythen made Thersander, sonof Polynices, the king of Thebes3uponwhich manyof the fugitive inhabitants returned. Thersande?

subsequently took part in the Trojan war, and thereperished.

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4. Tlie Trojan Cycle.-We now cometo the Trojan war,

the fourth and most celebratedof the common undertakings of

the later heroicage. Here the sources our information are of far moreplentiful than in any formerperiodof mythic history, because both thegrandnationalepics, Iliad and the Odyssey, the which arecommonly ascribed Homer,relateto the Trojanwar. to As the contents these of immortalpoems probablywellknown are to our readers, shall only dwell on the mostessential \ve featuresof the story.

I. THE HEROIC KACES THETROJAN OF WAR.-1. T\e Dar-

danidce,or race of Dardanus.-The royal family of Troy were descended from Dardanus, a son of Zeus by Electra, a daughter of Atlas. Dardanus is said to have emigratedfrom Samothrace, or, accordingto others, from Italy to Arcadia, to the north-west portion of Asia Minor, between the range of Ida and the Hellespont, where he received from king Teucer someland to form a settlement. By a daughter of the river-god Simois, or, as others say, of Scamander,Dardanus had a son called Tros, from whom the Trojans derived their name. Tros had three sons-Assaracus, Ilus, and Ganymedes. The last, who, like all the scions of the race of Dardanus, was possessed wonderful beauty, was raised of by Zeusto the dignity of cup-bearerto the gods,and thus becameimmortal. different Ilus branches and Assaracus of became race. the founders The latter of two the Dardanian remained

in his native settlement of Dardania, where he becamethe father of Capys and the grandfather of Anchises,the father of .ZEneas.

Ilus, on theotherhand,emigrated the plainsof the Scamander, to wherehe founded city of Ilium, or Troy. After completing thethe town, he beggedZeus to bestow on him a sign of his favour. The next morning he found in front of his tent the celebrated Palladium-an image of Pallas Athene, carved in wood. On the possession this depended the fortune and welfare of the of

city. After the deathof Ilus, his son Laomedon became king of Troy. At his request, Poseidon Apollo built the citadel and of Pergamum. We have alreadyrelatedhow this king, by his

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age. 243

faithless conduct provoked the wrath of Heracles, and the first captureof the city. Of his sonsonly Priam remained; in him the race of Dardanus flourished afresh, for by his wife Hecuha and by his concubineshe had a great number of sonsand daughters. 2. The Pelopidce, race of Pelojis.-The Pelopidse,who were or chiefly instrumental in the destruction of Troy, were descended from the Phrygian king Tantalus, who was renowned alike for his unexampled good fortune and his subsequentunhappy fate. He

wasthesonof Zeus Pluto(rich plenty),and inhabiteda citadel and

on Moant Sipylus, whence his rich pasture-lands and fruitful corn-fields extended twelve days' journey, as far as Ida and the Propontis. The very gods honoured him with their friendship, and lived on such intimate terms that they invited him to eat at their table. This unheard-of good fortune, however, begot in the

puny mortalsuchpresumption, that he beganto indulge in the grossest outrages godsand men. At length he wentso far as onto cut his son Pelops in pieces to boil them, and set them before the godsin order to test their omniscience. The cup of his iniquity now seemed full, and the gods brought down a heavy retribution on the head of the criminal by his well-known punishment in the lower world, where, though surrounded by the most delicious fruits, and standing up to his neck in water, he wasnevertheless condemnedto suffer the pangs of continual hunger and thirst.

Anothertradition relates he waskept in constantanxiety by that a hugerockwhich wassuspended hishead. (Seepp. over 149,150.)The children of Tantalus were Pelops and ISTiobe. The un-

happyfate of the latter hasalreadybeendescribed the mythic in

history of Thebes. Pelops was restored to life by the art of Hermes; and a portion of his shoulder, which had been consumedby Demeter, was replaced by the gods with a piece of

ivory. Pelopsis said to have grownup in Olympus, amongst

the blessedgods. On being restored to earth, he proceeded to Elis, where he becamea suitor for the hand of Hippodaniia, the beautiful daughter of the king QEnomalis. The latter had promised his daughter to the man who should vanquish him in

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a chariot race: whoever failed was obliged to expiate his temerity

with his life, as QEnomaiis transfixedhim with his unerring

lance as he passed. Thirteen noble youths had already suffered this fate, when Pelops appearedto undergo the dangerousordeal. By means of the untiring winged horseswhich had been given him by Poseidon, and also by bribing Myrtilus, the King's charioteer-who, before starting, withdrew the linch-pins from his master's chariot or replaced them with wax-he came off victorious. (Enomaiis either was killed by the breaking down of his chariot, or put an end to his own life on seeing*himself vanquished. Pelops now obtained both Hippodamia and the kingdom of Elis; but he ill rewarded Myrtilus, who had rendered him such valuable service, by casting him into the sea,in order to releasehimself from his obligations. Hermes, whoseson he is reputed to have been,set him amongst the stars as charioteer. The sonsof Pelops by Hippodamia were Atreus and Thyestes, whosehistory, which is fall of the most revolting crimes,formed a favourite subject with the tragic poets. First, Atreus andThyestes murdered their step-brother Chrysippus, and were compelled to leave their country in company with their mother. They were hospitably receivedat Mycense their brother-in-law Sthenelus, by the son of Perseus,or by his son Eurystheus. On Eurystheus' death, they inherited the sovereignty of the Persidsein Argos, and Atreus now took up his residence in the proud capital of Mycense,whence, strangeto say, the most ancient specimenof Greek sculpture has come down to us in the so-calledGate of Lions. Soon an implacable enmity arose between the two brothers, and Thyestes, in consequence,was banished from Argos. He took with him, in revenge,Pleisthenes, tbe young son of Atreus, brought him up as his own son, and despatched him, later, to Mycense kill Atreus. His designwas discovered, to and he expiated his intended crime with his life. When Atreusie&rned that it was his own son whom he had condemned to

death, he determined on a dreadful revenge. Pretending to be reconciled,he recalled Thyestesand his children to Mycenae;and

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age.

245

Thyestes, trusting to his brother'sword, returned. 'Atreusthen

privately seizedthe two young sons of Thyestes, slew them, andset this horrible food before their father. Horror-struck at this

inhuman cruelty, the sun turned his chariot and went back in his course. Thyestes,uttering fearful curses against his brother and the whole race of the Pelopidae,again escaped,and took refuge with Thesprotus, king of Epirus. Later, he succeeded, with the help of his only remaining son ^Egisthus, in avenging himself .on his brother. Atreus was slain by ^Egisthus whilst

offeringup a sacrificeon the sea-shore, Thyestes and now acquired the sovereignty of Mycenae. The sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaiis, fled from their barbarous uncle to

Sparta, where Tyndareiis, king, receivedthem kindly, and the

gave them his daughters, Clytaemnestra and Helen, in marriage. With his aid Agamemnon recovered his father's kingdom, slew

Thyestes,and drove out jEgisthus. Menelaiis remained in Sparta-wherehe succeeded Tyndareiis-until the carrying offof his wife Helen by Paris gave rise to the Trojan war. 3. The JEatidce,or race of JEacus.-After the sons of Atreus, the JEacidseplay the most important part in the Trojan war; in fact, we are almost justified in saying that the war was an

exploit of these two races of heroesand their peoples,the

Achseans Argos and the Hellenes of Phthia. The ancestor of of the jEacidsewasJ^acus, who was renowned alike for his wisdom

andjustice,and on this accountsubsequently madea judge in

the lower world. Jllacus was a son of Zeus by ^Egina, a

daughter the river-godAsopus. He ruled overthe islandof of

uEgina, and married Ende'is,the daughter of the wise Centaur Chiron. She bore him two sons, Peleus and Telamon. On

reachingmanhoodthey were compelledto leavetheir country,

because,like the sons of Pelops, they had murdered, in a fit of jealousy, a step-brother who was a favourite with their father. Peleus betook himself to Phthia, where he was kindly received

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

by Eurytion, who bestowed on him the hand of his daughter and a third part of his kingdom. Peleusafterwards took part in the boar hunt of Calydon, on which occasionhe had the misfortune to kill his father-in-law. In consequence this, he left Phthia of and proceeded to lolcus, where he took part in the funeral games which Acastus was celebrating in honour of his father Pelias, who had perished by the treachery of Medea. Here he experienceda similar fate to that of Bellerophon at the court of Proetus. Astydameia, the wife of Acastus, finding herself unable to seducehim, slandered him to her husband, who thereupon sought to take his life. After hunting on Pelion one day, Peleus fell asleep,and was left thus unprotected by Acastus,who hoped by this meansto get rid of him. He would, indeed, have been murdered by the Centaurs, If the gods had not taken pity on him, and sent him by Hermes a sword of wonderful power,with which he was enabledto repel the assaults of the wild inhabitants of the forest. Peleus, with the help of the Dioscuri, subsequentlytook lolcus, and put the treacherousAcastus and his wife to death. As a reward for his chastity, the gods gave him the goddess Thetis-a beautiful daughter of Kerens-to wife.

Shebore him one son, Achilleus (Achilles), the greatestand

bravest hero of the Trojan war. A later tradition assertsthat Thetis left her husband soon after the birth of Achilles, becausehe had disturbed her when she was about to render her child

immortal in the fire, just as Demeter intended to do to the child of Celeiis; but this story is unknown to Homer. According to a still later legend, she plunged her son into the Styx, and thereby renderedhim invulnerable in every part except the heel by which she held him. Like all noble heroes, Achilles was instructed by Chiron, under whom he acquired such wonderful skill in all feats of strength and agility that he soon surpassed all his contemporaries. In addition to Chiron, Homer names Phoenix, the son of Amyntox, as the instructor of the youthful

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age.

247

hero. Acliilles proceededto tlie Trojan war with cheerful determination, although he knew beforehand that he was not fated to return alive. The story that his mother Thetis, in order to avert his fate, sent him, disguised in women's clothes, to the court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, where he was discovered by the craft of Odysseus,is a post-Homeric invention. From Telamon, the secondson of ^Eacus,was descended Aias

or Ajax, a hero of but little less importance. Telamon, after his night,from JEgina, found a new homein Salamis, where hemarried the daughter of the king Cychreus. On the decease of Cychreus, he succeededto the crown. After the death of his

first wife, he marriedPeriboea, daughterof Alcathoiis,king of a

Megara,who bore him Ajax. Tradition tells us much of the intimate friendship of Heracles and Telamon, who took part in

the Trojan expeditionof his mighty friend. Heracles, return, in

gave him Hesione, the daughter of Laomedon, by whom he becamethe father of a second son, Teucer. Like every celebrated hero of antiquity, he is said to have taken part in the Calydonian hunt and the expedition of the Argonauts. Nothing inferior to this brave and doughty father was his son Ajax, on

whomthe mighty heroHeracles had invokedthe blessing his of

father Zeus, when as a child he held him in his arms. He was

of greatersizeand strengththan anyof the otherheroes;though he appears somewhat uncouthand clumsywhen contrasted withthe swift and agile form of Achilles. His mighty shield was as characteristic of him as the ponderous deadly spear was of Achilles. Beside him, his brother Teucer ranks as the best archer among the Greeks. 4. Nestor, the Locrian Ajax, Dlomedes, and Odysseus.-

Associated with the heroesof the race of Pelops and j^Eacus

were some other renowned chieftains. First among them was the aged Nestor, of Pylus, whose wise counsels were as indis-

pensable the Greeks to beforeTroy as the dauntlesscourage of

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

an Achilles or an Ajax. JSTestor the youngest the twelve was of sons E"eleus, was himself a son of Poseidonand Tyro, of who and twin-brotherof Pelias. JSTeleus, having beendriven out byPelias, took refuge in Messenia,where he became the founder

of a new kingdom. Later, however, both his sovereignty and the glory of his housewere well-nigh extinguishedby the hostility of Heracles, who slew all the sonsof Keleus except !N~estor. Whenquite young,Nestor defeatedthe neighbouringtribes of the Epei and Arcadians, and restored the dominions of his father to their former extent. He likewise took part in the

contestbetweenthe Lapithaeand the Centaurs, the Calyin donian boar hunt, and in the expedition of the .Argonauts. Though so far advancedin years-having ruled over three generations men-he could not withstand the desire take of topart in the Trojan war.

TheLocrian Ajax-also calledthe Lesser Ajax, to distinguish him from his mighty namesake-was son of the Locrianking a Oileus,of whom nothing moreis known than that he took part in the expedition theArgonauts. Ajax wasrenowned of among the Greeksfor his skill in hurling the spear and for his greatfleetness, in which he was surpassed only by Achilles. Locrians, are also light-armed troops.Diomedes was a member of the oft-mentioned race of the

He

alwaysappears a linen corslet, his followers, Opuntian in and the

^3llolianAmythaonidse. His father was the hot-headedTydeus, who was killed in the war of the Seven against Thebes. Diomedes, who inherited no small portion of his father's wild, untameable disposition, of course took part in the war of the

Epigoni, and subsequently succeeded grandfatherAdrastus his in his Argive sovereigntyat Sicyon. He also restoredhis paternalgrandfather, aged^Etolian king (Eneus, the who hadbeen dethroned by the sons of his brother Agrius, to his king-

dom. In the Iliad he appears a specialfavourite of Pallas as

CombinedUndertakingsof theLater Heroic Age.

249

Athene, and Homer makes him play an important part in the contests of the Greeks before the walls of Troy. In post-

Homericstory he is represented having carriedoff the Trojan as

Palladium.

Finally, Odysseus (Ulysses), most popular of the Greek the heroes the Trojanwar, wasa son of Laertes,king of Ithaca, of by Anticlea,the daughter Autolycus. Autolycus inhabiteda ofdistrict on Mount Parnassus, and was renowned for his cunning. His grandsonseemsto have inherited no small part of his grandfather's disposition. Througli his noble and virtuous wife Penelope, Odysseus was closely related to the Atridse; Penelope being the daughter of Icarius, who was a brother of the Spartan king Tyndareiis. He was therefore obliged-though much against his will-to comply with the request of Menelaiis, and join the expedition against Troy. On account of his wisdom and eloquence, his dexterity in all feats of strength, and his dauntless valour in the midst of danger, he also was a specialfavourite of Pallas.

II. THE WAR.-The Iliad of Homer, the most important source of our information with regard to the Trojan war, does not deal with the events of the first nine years; and of those of the tenth and last year it only gives such episodesas relate to the quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon. Of the origin of the war, and the events of the first nine years, it speaks only incidentally, for the sakeof explanation. The gap has to be filled

up from the works of those writerswho had access otherepic to

poemsof the Trojan cycle, which are now no longer extant. Eris, the goddessof discord, not having been invited to the

marriagefestivities of Peleusand Thetis, avengedherself by castinginto the assembly goldenapple,with the inscriptiona "To thefairest." The threerival goddesses-Hera, Athene,andAphrodite-each claimed the apple for herself, but were referred

by Zeusto the decision Paris. Pariswasa son of Priam, the of

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Greek and Eoman Mythology.

Trojan king. Immediately after "birthhe wasexposed Mount on

Ida, in consequenceof an ill-omened dream which his mother Hecuba had during her pregnancy. He was found, however, and brought up by some shepherds. He decided in favour of

Aphrodite,who had promisedhim the most beautiful woman

on earth as his wife. Soon afterwards, at somegamesgiven by ^he king, the youth, who was equally distinguished for his handsome person and his bodily dexterity, after having wrested

the prizefrom all his brethren, wasrecognised the prophetess by

Cassandra,and received into his father's favour. He next undertook a journey across the seato Greece,and, among other

places, visited the court of Menelaiis, king of Sparta,by whom

he was hospitably received and entertained. Aphrodite kindled in the breast of the young wife of Menelaiis a fatal love for their handsomeguest, who dazzledher as much by the beauty of his

person by the oriental splendourof his appearance.While as

Menelaiis was absent in Crete, and her brothers, the Dioscuri, were engagedin their strife with the sons of Aphareus, Helen fled with her seducer to Troy. On the refusal of the king of

Troy to surrenderHelen, Menelaiissucceeded rousing the in

whole of Greece to a war of revenge. This task was the more

easy, mostof the Grecian as chieftains been had suitorsof Helen,

and had bound themselvesby an oath to Tyndareiis to unite in

supportof the husband whom Helenshouldchoose, the event in

of his ever being injured or attacked. The well-mannedships of the Greeks assembledin the Boeotian port of Aulis. Their

numberamounted elevenhundred and eighty-six, to according

to Homer; of which Agamemnon, who had been chosenleader of the expedition, alone furnished over one hundred. Agamemnon, however, having offended Artemis by killing a hind sacred to the goddess, the departure of the expedition was delayed by continuous calms,until at length, at the command of

the priest Calchas, Agamemnon determined appease wrath to the

Combined Undertakings theLater HeroicAge. 251 of

of the goddess sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia on her altar. by At the fatal moment Artemis rescued the victim, and, after substituting a hind in her stead, conveyed Iphigenia to Tauris, where she became a priestess in the temple of the goddess. The fleet now sailed with a fair wind. The expedition first stopped at Tenedos, opposite the coast of Troy. Here, on the occasionof a banquet, Philoctetes, who possessed the bow and arrows of Heracles on which the conquest of Troy depended, was bitten in the foot by a serpent, and on account of his cries and the offensive smell of the wound was carried to Lemnos, and there left to his fate. The Greeksnext effecteda landing on the coast of Troy, in spite of the opposition of Hector and ^Eneas; for Protesilaiis devoted himself to death for the Greeks, and sprang first on the Trojan shore. Even Cycnus, the mighty son of Poseidon,who was king of Colonaein Troas, and cameto the assistanceof the Trojans, was unable to stem the advanceof the Greeks; and his body being invulnerable, he was strangled by Achilles by meansof a thong twisted round his neck. After the Greeks had made a station for their ships, the war

beganin earnest. Severalof their attacks on the town having

been successfullyrepelled by the Trojans, the Greeks now confined themselves to making inroads and plundering excursions into the surrounding country, in which Achilles was always the most prominent actor. The first nine years of the war were by no means fruitful in important events, and the wearisome monotony of the siege was broken only by the single combat between Achilles and Troilus, the youngest son of Priam, in which Troilus was slain, and by the fall of Palamedesof Eubcea,

the headof the Greekpeace-party, which wasbroughtaboutby

the treachery of Odysseus. At length, in the tenth year of the

war, a quarrel broke out betweenAchilles and Agamemnon respecting female a slavewho had beentaken captive,and gavefor the time quite another aspect to affairs. It is at this point

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

thafcthe Iliad commences. Achilles, in his wrath, retired to his tent, and refused to take any further part in the war; whilst the

Trojans,who feared him morethan all the otherGreeks, became bolder, and no longer kept to the protection of their walls.Zeus, at the request of Thetis, gave them the victory in their

first engagement the Greeks. Hectordrovethe latter back with to their ships,and was alreadyabout to setthem on fire, when.Achilles consented to allow his friend Patroclus to don his

armour and lead his Myrmidons to the assistanceof the Greeks.

The Trojanswerenow driven back,but Patroclus, the ardour in of pursuit,wasslain by Hector,and deprived his armour,and ofMenelaiis,with the help of the greaterAjax and other heroes,only succeededin rescuing his corpse after a bloody and obstinate struggle. The wrath of Achilles was now entirely diverted by the desire of avenging on Hector the death of his much-loved friend Patroclus. He was scarcely willing even to wait for the new armour which his goddess-motherprocured him from the workshop of Hephaestus. JSTo soonerwas he in possession it of than he again appeared on the field, and Hector-the bulwark of Troy-soon succumbedto his furious onslaught. Achilles, however, was generous enough to surrender his corpse to theentreaties of Priam. funeral of Hector. The Iliad concludes with the solemn

The succeeding events, up to the death of Achilles and the contest for his arms, were narrated in the JEthiopis of Arctinus of Miletus, with the contents of which we have some slight acquaintance, although the work itself is lost. All kinds of brilliant exploits are reported to have been performed by Achilles before the walls of Troy, which were manifestly unknown to the earlier story. In the first place, immediately after Hector's death, Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, came to the assistance of the Trojans, and fought so

bravely at the head of her army that the Greekswere hard

CombinedUndertakingsof the. Later Heroic Age. 253

pressed. Achilles at length overcame the heroic daughter of Ares. After her fall, a new ally of the Trojans appeared in Mernnon, king of ^Ethiopia, who is called a son of Eos, because

the ^Ethiopians were supposed dwell in the far East. Among to

those who fell by the hand of this handsome and courageous hero was Antilochus, the valiant son of Nestor. When Meranon, however, ventured to meet the invincible Achilles, he also was vanquished,after a brave struggle. The fresh morning dew,

which springsfrom the tears of Eos,proves that shehas never

ceased to lament her heroic son. But death was soon to overtake

him before whom so many heroes had bitten the dust. In an assault on the Sccean gate, Achilles was killed, at the head of Ms

Myrmidons, an arrowof Paris,which wasdirectedby Apollo. by

According to later writers, whose accounts were followed by the

tragicpoets,hewastreacherously murderedhereon the occasion

of his betrothal to Polyxena, the beautiful daughter of Priam. A furious contest, lasting the whole day, took place for the

possession his corpseand armour: at length Odysseus of and Ajax succeeded conveying to a placeof safety. Mourning in it and confusion reigned amongthe Greeks his death. During atseventeen days and nights Thetis, with the whole band of Nereids, bewailed his untimely fate in mourning melodies, so sad and touching that neither gods nor men could refrain fromtears.

rt See,tearsareshed by every god and goddess, survey to How soonthe Beautiful is past, the Perfectdies away!"

The death of the bravestof the Greekswasfollowedby an unhappy quarrel betweenAjax and Odysseus respectinghisarms. Ajax, on account of his near relationship to the deceased hero, and the great serviceshe had rendered to the causeof the

Greeks, seemed have the best claim; but Agamemnon, the to by advice of Athene, adjudgedthem to Odysseus. Ajax was so

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Greekand Roman Mythology.

mortified at this decision that he hecarne insane, and put an end

to his own life. An entire tragedy of Sophocles, treating of

the mournful fate of the son of Telamon, has come down tous.

After Ajax had quitted the scene, Odysseus became decidedly

the chief personage among the Greeks. It was he who captured the Trojan seer Helenus, and extorted from him the secret thatIlium could not be taken without the arrows of Heracles. Here-

upon Philoctetes, who was still lying sick at Lemjios, was fetched, and his wound healed by Machaon. Paris soon afterwards fell by his hand. It was Odysseus,moreover, who, in

company with Diomedes, undertookthe perilous taskof entering Troy in disguise stealingthe Palladium,onwhich the safety andof the city depended. It was he who fetched Neoptolemus,the

youngsonof Achilles,from Scyros the Trojancamp, having to it

been decreed that Ms presencewas necessary the successof to the Greeks. Lastly-and this was his greatest service-it was Odysseuswho devised the celebrated wooden horse, and the stratagem which led to the final capture of the city. In the belly of the horse, which was built by Epeiis, one hundredchosen warriors of the Greeks concealed themselves. The rest

of the Greeksset fire to their camp, and sailed away to Tenedos; whereupon the Trojans, deceived by the assurancesof Sinon,

dragged the fatal horse,amid cries of joy, into the city. In

vain did the Trojan priest of Apollo, Laocoon, seek to divert

them from their folly. Nonewould give heedto his warnings; andwhen,soon afterwards, both heand hissons, whilst sacrificingto Poseidon on the sea-shore, were strangled by two serpents that

cameup out of the sea,the Trojansregarded asa punishthis

ment sent by the gods for his evil counsel, and were the more confirmed in their purpose. The death of Laocoonand his sonsforms the subjectof oneof the most splendid of the creationsof Greek art that have comedown to

CombinedUndertakingsof theLater Heroic Age- 255

ns from antiquity. The groupwas found, in the year 1506,by a

Roman citizen in'his vineyard, close the formerThermae Titus, to of

and wasmadeoverby him, for a considerable annuity, to PopeJulius IL, who then placedit in the Vatican collection. The right arm of Laocoon,which was wanting, has, unfortunately, been incorrectly

Fig. 61.--Laocoon.

Group

restored. This is attestedby a copy of the group which was subsein its original form (Fig. 61). It treats really of three distinct incidents,which have beenskilfully incorporated,by the artists to whom we owe the work (the

quentlydiscovered Naples. We give an engraving the group in of

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Greek and Roman Mythology.

RhodiansAgesander, Athenodorus,and Polydorus),into one harmonious group. The eldestson is as yet unhuit, and appears be toso loosely held hy the coils of the serpent that he might easily escape his impending fate, if he were not more effectually restrained by his

loving sympathy with his noble father, on whom he gazeswith piteous looks. Laocoonhimself, who naturally forms the centre of the group,is depictedat the momentin which, mortally woundedbythe serpent, he sinks on the altar, to rise from which he vainly

exerts his last remaining strength. With his left arm he stillmechanically seeks to repel the serpents. His hitherto energetic

resistance begunto fail, and his nobleheadis raisedin mournful has

resignation to heaven, as though to ask the gods why they had conof his countenance forms a beautiful contrast to that of his body, his left hand grasps instinctivelylast.

demned to soterriblea fate. The dignified resolute him and aspect

which is manifestly quivering in the keenestagony. The younger son on his right is alreadyin the last agoniesof death,and though evidently incapable of further resistance. He is drooping like aplucked flower, and in one more moment will have breathed his the head of the snake, he is

On the night succeedingLaocoon's horrible end, and the rejoicings of the Trojans at the apparent departure of the Greeks, the Greek fleet returned in silence at a signal given by Sinon.The heroes who were hidden in the wooden horse then descended

and opened gatesto the Greek host, who rushed into the thedoomedcity. A terrible sceneof plunder and carnage ensued, the Trojans, in their dismay and confusion, offering no resistance. The fate of the sacredcity was fulfilled; Priam perished before the altar of Zeus by the hand of Neoptolemus, and with him the glory of Troy was laid in the dust. The men were put to

death,the womenand children, together with the rich booty,

were carried off, the former being destined to the hard lot of slavery. Among them was the agedqueen Hecuba, with all her

daughters and daughters-in-law.Helen-the cause all this of

misfortune-was found in the house of Dei'phobus,whom shehad *narried after the death of his brother Paris.

. The city was burnt to the ground, and, long after, other cities

roseon its site. Still the tradition of the siege remained among

CombinedUndertakingsof the Later Heroic Age.

257

the inhabitants, though, evenin Romantimes,learnedmen had

begun to declare that Old Troy must have had another site. And now when the last Ilium had been no more for many centuries, and the very existenceof Homer's Troy had been declared a fable, the palace and the traces of the conflagration have been found. Dr. Schliemaim has excavated the legendary site, and we know now that Athene was worshipped in the city, and that

it perishedby fire. We can hardly tell at present the full importance thesediscoveries, of thoseat Mycenae, of nor wherethe traditional tombs of the Grecian leaders have beenexamined, and their long-buried wealth brought to light. Yet this, too, the greatest of all the Grecian legend series, 'dissolves into the phenomena of nature. That there was a Trojan war, and that we have somehistorical facts about it, we can hardly doubt; but so many myths have crystallised round it, that to us it must be merely legend. The very names of Achilles, and Paris, and Helen, upon whom the whole story turns, have been recognisedin Indian legend. Point after point in their history is found in the legend history of every nation of the Aryan family. The only conclusion that we can draw is, that such stories must have come into being before the

separation the Aryan family, and cannot thereforecontain of

the later history of any one branch. III. THE RETURN.-The Greeks, after sacrificing Polyxena on the grave of Achilles at Sigeum, prepared to return to their country. Few, however, were destined to reach their homes without some misfortune, or, even when arrived there, to

experience kindJy welcome. Of the two sons of Atreus, a Agamemnon, after escaping storm on the cost of Euboea, alanded safely on his native shores, but was soon after murdered

by his wife and ^Egisthus, had, during his absence, who returned to Argos and married Clytsemnestra. Cassandra, Trojan the prophetess, in the division of the spoils,had fallen to Agawho,

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Greek and Roman Mythology*

memnon, shared his fate. She had continually predicted the unfortunate end of the war and the ultimate fate of the city, "but had always been laughed to scorn by her incredulous countrymen. The fate of the commander of the Greeks, with its eventful consequences, a favourite subject with the tragic was poets. His murder did not go unavenged. Orestes,the only son of Agamemnon and Clytsemnestra, had been hastily removed from the scene by his sister Electra, and sent to his

uncle, Strophius, king of Pliocis. Strophius him carefully had

educated with his own son Pylades, who was about the same age. A most intimate friendship soon sprang up betweenthe two youths, which, from its faithfulness and constancy, has becomeproverbial. On reaching manhood, the sole thought ^of Oresteswas to avengehis noble father's treacherousdeath at the hands of the crafty ^Egisthus and his mother Clytsemnestra. Accompanied by his friend Pylades, he returned, in the eighth year of his exile, to My cense, and there slew both j^Egisthusand Clytsemnestra. Although in so doing he had only fulfilled a duty, he yet incurred the deepestguilt by the murder of her who gave him birth, and at once found himself pursued by the avenging Euries. They dogged his steps, and ceasednot to pursue him through all the countries of the earth, until he was at length directed by the oracle at Delphi to convey the statue of Artemis from Tauris to Attica. After he had, with the help of his newly-found sister, successfullyachievedthis task, he was

purifiedby Apollo(see page152). Of the numerous dramas that

were written on the subject of the fortunes of the Pelopidse, which we have here briefly touched on, the Agamemnon, Choephoroe., and Eumenidesof JEschylus, the Electra of Sophocles,and the Electra and Ipliigenia in Tauris of Euripides, are still extant.We must now turn to the fortunes of the other Greek leaders.

Agamemnon'sbrother Menelaus was overtaken, off Cape Malea, by a fearful storm, which carried him to Crete and Egypt,

CombinedUndertakingsof theLater Heroic Age. 259 whence, after sevenyears of wandering, returnedto Sparta hewith Helen and his share of the spoils of Troy.

The LocrianAjax experienced still moreunhappyfate. On a the night of the destruction Troy he had penetrated of into thetemple of Pallas, and had not only torn away the priestess

Cassandra, wasclingingfor safetyto the altar and statueof who the goddess, hadalso overturned statueof Pallasherself. but the As a punishment this offence, shipwaswreckedon Cape for hisCaphareus, He would still have heen able to escape with his

life-having succeeded getting hold of a rock-if he had not in given such offence Poseidonby his impious boast that he to needed not the help of the gods,that the god split the rock with his trident, whereuponAjax fell into the sea and wasdrowned.

Diomedes,Philoctetes, and Idomeneus reached their homesin safety, but were all soon afterwards driven out, after which they all three emigrated to Italy. Here Diomedes founded many towns, and was long worshipped with heroic honours.

Teuceralso succeeded reachingSalamisin safety,but his in

father Telamon was so wroth because had not better protected he his brother Ajax, or at least avenged his death, that he refused to receive him. He was, therefore, likewise obliged to leave his country, and subsequently settled on the island of Cyprus. But of all the Greek heroes Odysseus experiencedthe most reverses,while at home his faithful wife Penelope and his son Telemachuswere hard pressed by the suitors. It was only in the tenth year after the fall of Troy, and after numerous wanderings and vicissitudes, that he was permitted to return to his native Ithaca and punish the shamelesssuitors who had wasted his substanceand goods. The story of his adventuresis so well known that we need not dwell on it here, further than to

mentionthat, according post-Homeric to accounts, Odysseus was killed by the hand of Telegonus, own sonby Circe. his

260

Greek and Roman Mythology.

The eventsof the Trojan cycle have supplied not only the poet, but also the artist and the sculptor,with a largenumber of their most acceptable subjects. Single scenes, such as the judgment of Paris,

havebeencontinually selected, sincethe time of Raphael, ever as

Thorwaldsen the great Danish sculptor, Cornelius, Genelli, and

favourite subjectsof representation. Of modern masters, Carstens, Preller (Landscapes the Odyssey) of have illustrated the story of Troy in a seriesof splendid compositions. We give an engravingof a relief by Thorwaldsen, representing Priam beforeAchilles (Fig. 62).

Fig. 62.-Priam

before Achilles.

Relief by Thorwaldsen.

Of the more important extant works of antiquity, we may mention

the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, depicted on the Francois vase in

the NaplesMuseum; the abductionof Helen, depicted on a marble

relief in the former Campana collection, now in the Louvre (Fig.

63); the marble groupin Borne,known by the nameof "Pasquino,ir

which represents Menelaus raising the corpse of Patroclus ; and, lastly, the celebrated JEgina marbles in Munich. These last are the

remainsof a marble group from the gableof a temple of Pallasat jEgina, representing battlebetweenthe Greeks Trojans. They a andwere discovered at JEgina in the year 1811 ; King Ludwig I. of

Bavaria, wasa greatpatronof art, bought JEgina who the marbles,

and, after having them restored by Thorwaldsen, placed them in the

Munich collection. The Laocoon,the most important of all the works relating to the Trojan cycle,has alreadybeendiscussed,

Fig. 63.-Rape ofHelen. Campana Collec

Greek and RomanMythology.

V.-MYTHIC SEEES AND BAUDS.

"VVe have already incidentally mentioned most of tlie seersof antiquity-Melampus, the son of Amyfchaon, who figures in Argive legend; likewise Amphiaraus, Tiresias, and Calchas. Concerning Tiresias, we may remark that the ancients ascribed to him a fabulous age, extending over seven or even nine*

generations; that he wasthus a witnessof all that happened so

to Thebes, from the foundation of the city to its destruction by the Epigoni. Like all celebratedsoothsayers, wasacquainted he with the languageof birds, and could penetrate the most hidden secretsof mture; on which account he enjoyed up to his death an ever-increasing reputation among the Thebans. We have already related how, in extreme old age, when his native city conld no longer withstand the assaults of the Epigoni, he experienced the bitter lot of having to take refuge in flight, and at length succumbed beneath the hardships of the journey. In the second century A.D. his grave was still shown in the neighbourhood of Haliartus. Among the fugitive Thebans who fell into the hands of the Argives is said to have been Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, who waslikewise renownedas a prophetess. She wasdedicated, together with a large portion of the spoils, to the oracle at Delphi. By the command of the god she was sent into Asia Minor, where she founded the oracle of Claros, near Colophon.

Sheheremarriedthe CretanHhacius,and became him the* by

mother of Mopsus,who afterwards founded the oracle of Mallosin Cilicia.

Among the namesof the mythic bards that have beenhanded down to us are undoiibtedly to be found some recollections of those who first cultivated the art of poetry; partly, however,

theyarenothingmorethan personifications certain of tendencies

Mythic Seersand Sards.

263

and modesof poetry. Such is probably the casewith the mythic bardLinus, who was celebrated Argos,Thebes, in and Euboea. Nothing is morecommon than for an unsophisticated peopleto burst forth in lamentationover the decayand final extinction of the bloominglife of nature. This, as we seein the myth of ITyaciuthus, was often portrayedunder the meta-

Fig. 64.-Orpheus

and Euryuice.

Marble Relief in the Villa Albani.

phor of a beautifulboy slainby a quoit or by savage dogs-both symbolsof the scorchingheat of the sun. The dirgeswhichfrom time immemorial were sung over the beautiful boy Linus,

at the season vintage,probablygaverise to the myth which of makes Linus himself the singer.

26'4Similar

Greekand Roman Mythology.

doleful memories are linked with the name of

Orpheus, who is often termed a brother of Linus, though he

was really not an ^Eolian, but a Thracian of Pieria. That which is best known of him is the story of his love for the beautiful nymph Eurydice. She was bitten in the foot by a snake, and thus snatched away from him by death. Orpheus then filled mountain and valley with songs of lamentation so piteous, that the wild beasts of the forest were enchanted at the sound,and followed him like lambs; and the very rocks and trees moved from their places. His yearning towards his beloved Eurydice induced him to descendto the lower world, to beg her releasefrom the grim king of shadows. Here his piteous lay caused even the Erinyes to shed tears of compassion,and moved the hard heart of the Stygian king. He releasedEurydice on condition that Orpheus should not look back on her till he reached the upper world. Orpheus, however, violated this condition, and Eurydice was oncemore lost to him. He himself, not long afterwards, whilst wandering in his despair over the Thracian mountains, was torn in piecesby somewomen in the mad excitement of their nightly Bacchanalianorgies. A splendidrepresentation the second of parting of the lovers byHermes, the guide of souls, lias come down to us on a marble relief,